Forest Of Secrets
by Kithani
Summary: After his capture by an S-class missing-nin, Naruto escapes into the Forest of Mist. Pursued by deadly summons, Naruto meets a girl from the Kitsune Clan. As the threat of the missing-nin grows, Naruto finds his life in the hands of his new ally.
1. Chapter 1

This is the first Fanfiction that I've uploaded, so constructive cristisism is welcome! I don't really know what people will think of my fanfictions, but if you don't like it, please don't waste everyone's time by writing a review about how much you hate my writing.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (If I did, the storyline wouldn't be as good and there'd be a lot more kidnapping! :D)<p>

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><p>The darkness wove it's way through the forest trees, wrapping itself around the eyes of the beings in the forest and stealing their sight. Mist snaked it's way through the trees, silently wrapping itself around everything in it's path.<br>There was a omninous silence before a large explosion sounded in the distance and and trail of smoke filtered through the trees...

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><p>A young boy raced through the forest, terror in his eyes.<br>"Oh Kami! Dear Kami!" he cried as the roaring and crashes kept coming closer and closer. "KAMI! HELP ME!" he screamed as the trees behind him fell to the ground. The broken shackles around his legs rubbed as the young blonde ran, but he ignored them and continued to avoid the trees.  
>Three HUGE summon bears ran out of the debris towards him. The blonde screamed in terror.<br>"IE! MY CHAKRA'S SEALED! Kuso! The poison! It must've sealed my chakra! I don't have any weapons and my Taijutsu'll be hampered by these damn shackles!"  
>One of the bears lunged at the boy, managing to avoid his defences. The boy cried out as the bear's teeth ripped open his shoulder and he was thrown against a tree. The boy just managed to slip behind the tree as the second bear clawed straight down the trunk where he had been seconds ago. He felt the poison seeping through his veins as he became more and more groggy.<br>"Oh... Kami... Help..." he whispered, continuing to run, pushing through all of the undergrowth. "I'll... never make... it back... to Konoha..." suddenly, the bears caught up to him and threw him into the air, back bleeding from several gouges. He saw a branch above him and stretched, trying to grab it, but he missed and tumbled back through the branches, hitting a particulary large one with a thud. He coughed out blood and silently thanked Kami for not letting him land on his back - if he had, he would be paralysed or dead. - but the blonde felt despair sweep over him as he began to slide over the branch.  
>Suddenly, a hand grabbed his arm and dragged him back onto the branch and over to a small hollow in the tree trunk. He felt himself be put down, leaning against a wall.<br>"Who... are you?" he asked, voice hoarse.  
>"Kitsune Ami, and you?" a girl answered.<br>"Uzumaki Naruto..." Naruto answered, azure eyes searching for the girl. He eventually found her crouching in a corner of the suprisingly large hollow. The girl wore a well-made deer skin top which showed her stomach and loose deer-skin knee-length trousers. She had a small goat-skin shoulder bag on and a katana strapped to her back. There were loads of shuriken and kunai sealed into a scroll strapped to a deer-skin belt and several daggers dangled from the belt. In her hand she held an oak staff. A bear launched itself at the hollow and the massive tree shook from it's force. The bear managed to climb to their branch and Ami reacted immediately. She leapt from the hollow and knocked the massive bear's legs out from underneath it with one blow. The bear roared, unbalanced and Ami jabbed it in the chest, narrowing her eyes in effort as she pushed the bear off the branch. It hit the ground and vanished. Another bear roared in anger and launched itself at the branch. The entire tree shook and Ami kept her balance, drawing her sword, she hit the bear in the chest with it and ripped upwards. The bear screeched and vanished. Ami turned and raced back inside the hollow, ignoring the other bear's frantic attempted to climb the tree.  
>"You're not from around here, are you?"<br>"Ie..."  
>"I've never seen another shinobi since that damn Ren captured me. Did he get you too, Naruto-kun?"<br>"Hai, Ami-chan. My team tried to rescue me..."

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><p>-Start Flashback-<br>_Naruto's head shot up as he heard something crumble outside of his cell. He fought against the chains binding him to the wall, but they didn't budge and he fell limp, listening to the sounds of battle. 'Is Kakashi-sensei here? Is Sakura-chan here?' he wondered anxiously._  
><em>Suddenly, a blinding light hit his eyes and Naruto cried out.<em>  
><em>"I should've known that your little shinobi friends'd try to save you..." snarled an iritated voice. Naruto winced as his cell door was thrown open and a tall, muscular man stormed in. He lifted Naruto up by his hair and took the chains binding him to the wall off. Naruto stumbled as he was pushed forwards, his shackles clanking echoing around the mossy dungeons. <em>

_"SHINOBI!" Ren called out from where he stood on the battlements of his highest tower. He saw the shinobi in the courtyard below stop fighting and look up. "I WILL KILL YOUR COMRADE IF YOU DO NOT CEASE FIGHTING IMMEDIATELY!" Naruto was pushed up to Ren, who pushed him to the edge of the battlements. The forest below Naruto swayed in the breeze and the genin whimpered in fear._  
><em>"Oh KAMI! NARUTO!" yelled Sakura. Naruto saw her familiar pink hair and smiled to himself, before Ren nudged him and he nearly toppled over the edge of the battlements.<em>  
><em>"What do you want?" Kakashi's call floated up to them.<em>  
><em>"Oh, Nothing. I was just going to attempt to extract the Kyuubi- it probably wouldn't work, but when the gaki dies, Kyuubi'll probably come back eventually... Beside's, the gaki's no fun. He won't say anything when I torture him and he doesn't beg for mercy." Ren smirked as he heard the cry of horror from Sakura.<em>  
><em>Suddenly, Ren shoved Naruto in the back and the genin was thrown off the battlements. He screamed as he fell towards the forest.<em>  
><em>"SAKURA-CHAN! KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled in terror as the trees reached up to meet him. The fell through them, breaking through the small branches, being knocked off the rest, before he saw something blue beneath him.<em>  
><em>Naruto hit the lake with a splash and floated to the surface, injured, but alive. He swam to the edge of the lake and realised that his shackles had been broken in the fall. He smiled and got out of the lake, before he saw Ren standing on the battlements, watching him. Suddenly three massive summon bears appeared o nthe battlements. He saw them look at him before they launched themselves at the ground. <em>  
><em>"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" he screamed, although he knew that the Konoha shinobi probably thought he was dead.<em>  
>-End Flashback-<p>

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><p>Naruto saw Ami's eyes narrow in anger when he mentioned Ren's threats.<br>"Almost the same happened to me- we are about the same age and I've been living here half my life..." Ami sighed gently.  
>"So... you're 15 too?" Naruto asked. "Ah! Damn this poison... I'll never be able to stay awake longer than 5 minutes..." Naruto groaned and closed his blurry eyes.<br>"Hai, I'm 15, and, don't worry-the poison'll wear off in a day and you'll wake up perfectly healthy." Ami smiled gently. "Don't fight the poison. I'll fight off the other bear and we'll get back to my home." Naruto heard Ami's voice as he fell into the darkness. "Ami-chan... Arigatou..." he whispered.

Ami smiled as she saw the young genin slip into unconsciousness.  
>"Right, now to deal with this damn bear!" she grabbed her staff and leapt out of the hollow, leaping through the trees like she was walking around a town. The bear saw her and gave chase. Instantly, Ami noted this and turned around, stiking the bear in the neck as it reared up to swipe at her. The angry creature hit the ground hard and struggled to it's feet, growling at the girl. Suddenly Ami froze.<br>"Ie..." she whispered, turning just in time to see a tiger leap at her. The girl cried out and grabbed a shuriken, about to throw it at the tiger, before the bear ripped open her leg from behind. Ami stumbled and let out a wail of despair as the tiger closed in. Suddenly thoughts flashed through her mind, of Naruto, lying unconscious in the hollow, trusting that she would look after him. Ami opened her eyes and ducked, the tiger flew over her head and hit the bear, roaring in anger. Ami limped through the trees, making her way back to the hollow. She leapt to the ground when she was near to it and listened to the bear as it raced towards her.


	2. Chapter 2

This is the first Fanfiction that I've uploaded, so constructive cristisism is welcome! I don't really know what people will think of my fanfictions, but if you don't like it, please don't waste everyone's time by writing a review about how much you hate my writing.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (If I did, the storyline wouldn't be as good and there'd be a lot more kidnapping! :D)<p>

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><p>Ami paused and felt a strange feeling of weakness flash through her, before she looked at the bear and smirked.<br>The girl let out a strange yelp, barking into the night. The bear paused, feeling a strange fear wash over it. Suddenly there were teeth in it's throat. The bear roared in pain and shook his attacker away. He turned to the girl and saw her surrounded by winged kitsunes. His attacker raced back, scraping it's claws across his forehead. The bear growled and knocked the kitsune out of the air. It hit the ground at it's comrade's feet and the other kitsune raced to attack the bear. Ami smiled as the bear roared and vanished. Suddenly cold washed over her.  
>"IE! NARUTO-KUN!" she screamed, remembering the tiger. A roar came from the tree and Ami screamed in anger as she saw the tiger stalking towards the hollow. Ami launched herself at the branch, swinging around it and landing on the middle of the branch, in front of the tiger. The tiger roared, but looked uncertain. Ami drew a shuriken from her scroll and threw it at the tiger. The big cat knocked it away and found it's paw sweeping through thin air. Ami smiled as the real shuriken struck the tiger in the chest. "Genjutsu." she smirked. The tiger roared and vanished before a winged kitsune flew up to the branch.<br>"Ami-chan, should we take this Naruto to your home?" it asked.  
>"Arigatou, Naoki!" Ami smiled as the kitsunes picked Naruto up and began to make their way to her home. Ami leapt over the trees, healing her leg as she went.<p>

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><p>"Guh..." azure eyes opened to see a stone celing. <em>'Was that all a dream? Am I still Ren's prisoner?'<em>  
>Naruto sighed and looked to the side, into a young, blood-coated, girl's face.<br>A scream echoed around the forest, making even the bears and wolves jump in terror.  
>"Err... I was hoping for more of a 'Morning Ami, arigatou, you saved my life last night' sort-a thing, but everyone's different, I guess." Ami grinned as Naruto stopped screaming.<br>"Oh... Err... Gomen..." Naruto grinned sheepishly and sat up. "I thought I was still Ren's prisoner..."  
>"Ah, don't worry!" Ami smiled and examined the shackles on Naruto's ankles. She gently closed her eyes and a thin stream of chakra came from her fingertip, slicing the shackles. They dropped to the ground, broken.<br>"Ren should make chakra-proof shackles... He realies on poison WAY too much!" Ami grinned. "The poison's worn off, hai?"  
>"Hai..." Naruto stretched and smiled. "Uh... Where are we?"<br>"My home. Well, this isn't really my home, but the caves over here are. You're in the cave outside of my home. Kinda the cave I allow the kitsune's to sleep in. They inisted on keeping watch over you." Ami smiled.  
>"Oh... Ok. Wait, did you say I slept with KITSUNES?" Naruto's eyes widened and he looked around.<br>"Hai. But they won't be here now- they'll be off hunting, probably... They aren't any old Kitsune, they're WINGED Kitsune!" Ami laughed at the shocked look on Naruto's face.  
>"W-winged K-Kitsune?" stammered Naruto.<br>"Yeah, they're the Kitsune Clan's summon." Ami smiled and watched as Naruto got to his feet. She turned and lead the way to her caves.  
>Naruto's eyes widened in amazement as he walked into Kitsune's cave. There was a small fire-pit just inside the cave's entrance and three woven baskets sat next to the wall beside it. Inside, Naruto could see fish, deer, goat and rabbit. He watched as Ami picked a slice of raw fish from the ice-cold pool of water next to the baskets and ate it.<br>"Want some? It's like sushi- only without the rice!" Ami grinned.  
>"Uh... Ok?" Naruto caught the fish that Ami threw at him and ate it slowly. "It's not actually that bad." Ami laughed and brushed aside the vines, walking into the main part of the cave. Naruto followed, and gasped as he saw the main cave. To one side, there were two folded fuuton with blankets beside them. The other side there was another fire pit, a small hole in the celing above it. At the far end of the cave was a tiny waterfall and pool of water. The sides of the pool were stone slabs and a pile of wooden bowls, plates, spears and staffs lay on one of them.<br>There was a tunnel behind the waterfall that lead to a cave with a moss-covered floor and a pool of water. Around the cave stood small woven baskets and wooden chests, each with a carved sign saying what they were. 'Deer Skin', 'Dried Meat' etc.  
>Ami walked over to the fire pit, placed a small layer of dried grass, fur and twigs in it before laying three larger sticks on the layer. Ami puut her hands into the Tiger Seal and murmured a Katon jutsu, setting the pile on fire.<br>Naruto walked over to her and sat on one of the small deer-skin mats that lay around the fire. Ami smiled and sat beside him.  
>"You know Ren won't give up trying to kill you, hai?" Ami tilted her head to one side.<br>"Hai... You too, right?" Naruto copied her unconsciously and Ami grinned.  
>"Hai, he's been hunting me for ages! I don't thing he knew I'd settled in this forest until yesterday. He hadn't been sending out as many patrols as usual over the last few months." Ami sighed and tossed a small tuft of fur into the fire, watching each strand burn. "But now he knows that we're BOTH here, BOTH a threat to his plans, he'll send eve nmore patrols. I'll have to teach you how to move through the trees, I only come to the ground when I need to." Naruto watched as Ami prodded the fire with a kunai.<br>"Why are we a threat to his plans?" Naruto asked.  
>"Because we know the layout of his base, the jutsu he uses, the outline of his plans-"<br>"I don't..."  
>"'I don't' what?" Ami tilted her head again.<br>"Know his plans. Am I meant to?" Naruto asked.  
>"You DO know them. Think back to when Ren was torturing you. He screams out his plans while you're in pain." Ami watched as Naruto thought back.<br>"Oh... Hai..." Naruto shuddered, "he wants to do THAT?"  
>"Yeah." Ami sighed and laid a couple of sticks onto the fire. She stood up and walked to the entrance of the cave. "Night already? Well, it was evening when you woke..." Ami walked back inside the cave, with a russet-coloured winged Kitsune.<br>"Konbanwa, Naruto-san." the Kitsune barked in a deep voice.  
>"Konbanwa... Gomen, I don't know your name."<br>"Naoki, my name is Naoki." the Kitsune grinned foxily.  
>"Konbanwa, Naoki-san." Naruto grinned. "Naruto-kun, we should get some sleep, I intend to go hunting tomorrow and you're coming with me. It'll give you a chance to get used to the forest ways." Ami unrolled the two fuuton and moved them nearer to the fire.<br>"'K." Naruto picked up the two blankets and tossed one to Ami. She caught it and lay on her fuuton, throwing it over herself. Naruto lay on the other fuuton and watched the sparks in the fire. He pulled the blanket over himself and lay on his side.  
>"Night, Naruto-kun.<br>"Night, Ami-chan." Naruto closed his eyes and allowed the threat of Ren to fade with his consciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi.

Sorry I didn't upload this sooner, but writer's block is evil! Anywayz, here's the next chapter of Forest of Secrets! You DO need to have watched at least the first series of Naruto to understand most of this chapter!

"WAKE UP!" Naruto flinched as someone yelled into his ear. He moaned and opened his sleepy eyes. Ami's bright blue eyes stared down at him and he grinned.  
>"But it's really, really warm... I never got such a warm, cosy, bed when I was Ren's prisoner!" Naruto watched as Ami's iritated eyes softened.<br>"Ah, gomen, but it's best to hunt just before dawn." Ami murmured. She picked up a bowl and filled it with water from the waterfall. "I've always hunted at dawn, and I'm not letting a fellow Konoha shinobi break that habit!" Naruto watched as she held the bowl above his head and murmured something.  
>"I know the waterfall water's always warm-ish. You told me." Naruto smirked and screeched as ice-cold water fell on his head, along with a wooden bowl after he'd recovered from the shock of the water.<br>"It's a jutsu." explained Ami. "The waterfall is generally warm, but not at night or when I use that jutsu!"  
>"Kuso!" Naruto struggled to his feet and folded the fuuton, taking the blanket and laying it on top of the fuuton. "I'll never get up late again, promise!"<br>"Ah, I got up late today for you- see? You can almost see the sun rising!" Ami pointed out a faint pink glow on the horizon.  
>"THIS is EARLY?" Naruto exclaimed.<br>"Ren's night patrol will be changing with the dawn patrol right about now, and it's easier NOT being spotted by them, that and most animals come out around dawn and dusk, it's easier to hunt now." Ami explained. Naruto turned to look around the dark cave and heard something whistling towards him. He turned and caught the dagger when it was inches from his face.  
>"HEY! Do you want to KILL me?" he growled.<br>"Ie. You don't have any hunting weapons and you need to have sharp reflexes out here, so it's easier to test your reflexes and give you a weapon in one than to give you a weapon THEN test your reflexes." Ami grinned and caught the stone Naruto threw at her. She tossed it up into the air, grabbed her katana and stabbed it straight through the stone, reducing it to dust. Ami sheathed the katana and grabbed two oak staffs. She threw one at Naruto, who caught it and tapped his ankles with the other. "I could've knocked your legs out from underneath you then."  
>"But you didn't." Naruto shot back. "Didn't I?" Ami tilted her head and lifted the oak staff again. "Come on!" she leapt from the cave and waited by the pool that separated her caves from the forest. Naruto followed her, and tripped over, belly flopping into the pool. "Oops." Ami smirked as Naruto swam to the surface. "I think the effect of me knocking your legs from underneath you came a little late." Naruto growled but grinned. He climbed out of the pool and put his hands in a seal.<br>"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" he murmured. Ami's staff swung around, seemingly of it's own accord as Ami hit the three kage bunshin as they leapt at her. The kage bunshin vanished and Ami leapt over the pool.  
>"No more messing around, now we've gotta get serious. We can't go down to Ichiraku's for some ramen in the middle of Misuto Forest. We have to get our own food." Ami leapt up into a tree and looked down at Naruto. "Come on, you travel through trees on missions, hai?"<br>"Err... Hai... But these trees are different to those of Konohagakure." he tilted his head and looked the tree up and down.  
>"Ie. These are just like the Forest of Death's trees. Well, they aren't as creepy, giant hebi don't live in them and other ginat deadly predators aren't GENERALLY around here. Plus, Anko-sensei isn't here and Orochimaru has no need to come here. Hai, I know about Sasuke and the Curse Seal." Ami shuddered. "But that's all in the past. This is the present. Not the past, not the future. They don't matter. 'Never shall I dwell on things in the past, Bad times come but never do they last' to quote some poem I found." Ami grinned and began to leap away. Naruto leapt into the tree and followed her uncertainly. Now that she'd mentioned it, this WAS a lot like the Forest of Death. Naruto sighed. 'That really WAS the beginning of the end...' he thought sadly. "Never shall I dwell on things in the paaaaast!" sang Ami from in front.<br>"I know!" snapped Naruto. Ami fell back and stood beside him.  
>"Sasuke would have left Konoha anyway Naruto-kun. He was too ambitious." Ami hung her head slightly and sighed.<br>"I want to become Hokage- is THAT too ambitious?" Naruto asked.  
>"Ie. You aren't prepared to kill anyone who gets in your way. Sasuke would have killed you at the Valley of the End if you hadn't moved his hand and forced it to hit you in the shoulder, not the heart. Do you understand what he meant when he said 'We became best friends and that is why I have to kill you'?"<br>"Umm... Ie... But I LOST that fight! I broke my promise to Sakura-chan! I didn't bring Sasuke back!" Naruto wailed in despair.  
>"If you'd gone in there with the thought of Sasuke as an enemy, you would have won that fight." Ami pointed out. "AH! NEVER SHALL I DWELL ON THINGS IN THE PAST!" "Nani?"<br>"Let's just get on with hunting. Sasuke can wait. He killed Itachi and now he has no purpose. That was his dream. To kill Itachi, his brother, and it turns out Itachi was protecting Konoha all the time." Ami snarled and turned, leaping through the trees, ignoring the thoughts of Sasuke. Naruto followed her, eyes on the ground, looking for anything worth eating.

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><p>"Naruto!" Ami hissed quietly.<br>"Nani?" Naruto asked quietly.  
>"Ren's patrol's in the next clearing. We'll have to go around." Ami looked troubled.<br>"So?"  
>"This is Chi Clearing. Ren named it that because of the amount of blood that's been spilled around it... There are so many traps around here that even I can't move through here without caution. There are always new traps added, old traps set off, it's too unpredictable..."<br>"Can't we just go back? Or go REALLY far around it?"  
>"Ie, if we did that, we'd have to run over the plains. I don't want to be seen and the plains are too open."<br>"Oh..." Naruto mumured. He slowly followed Ami as they made their way around the clearing.

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><p>"Naruto-kun!" Ami's panicked hiss broke the silence. Naruto froze, but it was too late. Ami leapt in front of him as kunai shot from the bushes. She grabbed her oak staff and twirled it round, knocking away most of the kunai. "Move!" she hissed. Naruto leapt behind the tree and lent back against the trunk, waitng for Ami.<br>The kunai stopped after a few minutes and Naruto peered around the trunk.  
>"Ami-chan?" he whispered. Ami appeared beside him, blood trickling from several gashes on her arms and she had a kunai in her shoulder. "Daijoubu?" he asked.<br>"Hai, I'm fine..." Ami pulled the kunai from her shoulder and leapt off again. "Come on. Only baka or people with death wishes stay around Chi Clearing longer than needed."  
>"But you're injured!"<br>"Not badly, I'll heal." Ami leapt back and grabbed Naruto's arm, dragging him with her. Naruto sighed and shook her off, following silently. He made a mental note to check for any obvious traps. Those were the ones that hid deadly traps. 'Always look underneath the underneath' as Kakashi used to say.

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><p>"Ami-chan, trap." Naruto murmured, pointing out the hidden tripwire.<br>"Double trap." Ami pointed to the pressure pad behind it. She picked up a rock and tossed it so that it hit the tripwire and landed on the pad. Instantly stone spears shot from the ground, crushing the rock. Suddenly Ami turned and pushed Naruto. He stumbled and hit a tree trunk.  
>"Huh?" Naruto watched in horror as a dragon made of fire flew at Ami. The girl put her hands into several seals within the space of a few seconds.<br>"Suton: Mizu Tatsumaki!" she cried. Instantly, a tornado of water flew at the dragon, turning it to steam.  
>"Ami-chan, are you OK?" Naruto called.<br>"Hai..." Ami replied, gasping for breath. "We need to move! That wasn't a trap, that was one of Ren's shinobi!"  
>"NANI?" Naruto exclaimed. He pulled his head back as a kunai flew past him, millimetres from his nose. "Oh Kami!" Ami grabbed Naruto and hauled him onto a higher branch.<br>"Come on! There's a cave not far from here!" Ami gasped and scrambled over the branch, launching herself at the next tree and swinging herself up and onto the branch. Naruto copied her and tilted his head as she turned her head to the side.  
>"Ami-chan?"<br>"I don't understand... The scents are all mixed up... Genjutsu?" Ami sounded worried.  
>"Umm... Oh, right! Hai, this is a genjutsu." Naruto looked around. "Ah... Ami-chan? I'm rubbish with genjutsu..."<br>"I know." Ami grinned and put her hand on Naruto's shoulder, breaking the Genjutsu. Naruto blinked and found himself lying on the branch he had swung up to. Ami was slumped against the trunk, eyes slowly opening. "I HATE genjutsu's!" she snarled. "We have to get back to the cave, if we don't..." Naruto nodded and leapt back the way he had come. Ami followed, leaping beside Naruto.  
>"Hey, Ami-chan? Why do you leapt about on all fours when you're moving through the trees?"<br>"The same reason you do- better balance, and it's just instinct. Technically, when you live out here, EVERYTHING works on instinct." Ami grinned and ducked as a kunai flew over her head. "Trap." she explained. "Ren's patrol is ahead of us. We'll most likely have to fight our way through them. You up for it, Naruto-kun?" Ami asked, smiling.  
>"I AM a shinobi!" Naruto grinned, "A genin, but I'm still a shinobi."<br>"Ah, don't worry, I'm a genin too. Judging from the jonin and ANBU I can remember, with the level of skill we both have, we SHOULD be chuunin." Ami sighed quietly. "The Sandaime- Jiji- told me that I had the potential to surpass the Yondaime. He'd only ever said that to two people- you were the other, I guess. You have Sennin Mode."  
>"How...?"<br>"Chakra." Ami smiled and tossed a kunai casually, knocking ten shuriken off course.  
>"Ah, I see... Anyway, how far are we from the cave? Can't you just call on Naoki-san? I'm sure he could finish off those baka shinobi of Ren's."<br>"Too late for that." hissed a voice behind them. Ami cried out and turned, seeing two crimson eyes glinting in the darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi does.  
>Sorry this hasn't been uploaded sooner, but I've been busy!<p>

"How did you...?" Ami snarled.  
>"You are a shinobi of the wild. You could probably give Ren-sama a hard time- together you could probably crush us. However, your weakness lies in your emotions- you want to protect this baka-" began the shinobi.<br>"I AM NOT A BAKA!" yelled Naruto iritably.  
>"I rest my case." snarled the shinobi. Naruto growled and threw a punch at the red-eyed man. He let out a cry as two more shinobi leapt from the shadows and caught him, holding a kunai against his throat.<br>"Naruto-kun!" cried Ami in horror.  
>"As I was saying, you want to protect this baka, so you let your OWN guard down to make sure nothing happens to him. If you'd kept it up, you would've noticed us when we got within 10 metres of you." the man snarled. "Now, are you going to try to fight, or are you going to give up and let us capture you both?"<br>"I'd never choose to give up. That means I won't choose the latter." Ami hissed angrily. "Your choice. Kill him." the red-eyed shinobi motioned with his hand to the two shinobi. The one holding the kunai grinned and slashed it across Naruto's throat ripping through the flesh.  
>"NARUTO-KUN!" screamed Ami. The red-eyed shinobi raced at her and stabbed his sword straight through Ami's heart.<br>The crimson-eyed man grinned as he went to wipe the blood from his sword. There was no blood on it.  
>"I'd never let my guard down." came a voice from behind him. The man turned and saw both Ami and Naruto grinning before they vanished in puffs of smoke.<br>"Kage Bunshins?" screamed the man in frustration.

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><p>"I don't think Red-eyes is going to be very happy when he catches up with us..." muttered Ami.<br>"...Do you think that was a good idea?" asked Naruto. "I mean, he'll kill us when he catches us."  
>"IF he catches us." Ami corrected.<br>"Oh, believe me, a guy like that WILL take revenge on someone who insulted him." Naruto grinned. Ami sighed.  
>"Do you think we should go faster?" "Hai." Naruto grinned as Ami cleared two trees in one leap. She broke a sharp branch from the tree and threw it at Naruto, who caught it and threw it back. "Naruto-kun?"<br>"Hai?"  
>"Do you know WHY I threw that stick at you?"<br>"STICK! THAT WAS A THREE METRE LONG BRANCH! IT'S TALLER THAN ME!"  
>"Yeah, well, I'd turn if I was you." Ami's eyes were fixed on something behind Naruto. Naruto slowly turned, while still jumping.<br>"I'm gonna regret turning, aren't I?" he whispered, eyes closed.  
>"Hai." Ami didn't smile. Naruto carefully opened his eyes and saw two red eyes glaring at him from the shadow of a large tree.<br>"Oh Kami." "Hai, now you get to meet Kami." the red-eyed man stepped from the shadows, two-metre long sword glinting in the dull light. Naruto leapt onto the branch beside Ami and went to grab his staff.  
>"Don't." hissed Ami. "I'll deal with him. You run."<br>"IE! MY NINDO IS TO NEVER GO BACK ON MY WORD!"  
>"AND YOU WON'T! YOU NEVER SAID YOU'D PROTECT ME NO MATTER WHAT- BUT I SAID I'D PROTECT YOU! RUN!" Ami growled, turning on Naruto. The genin recoiled and snarled angrily.<br>"I WON'T LEAVE!"  
>"HAI, YOU WILL, NOW RUN BEFORE I MAKE YOU!" Ami released the henge she had on and saw Naruto's face, filled with suprise.<br>"Oh, so you're the Kitsune girl." red-eyes smirked. "A-Ami..." Naruto stammered. Ami sighed and closed her eyes, turning to Naruto.  
>"Do you hate me now? I'm not human. I'm a half-demon. That's the curse of the Kitsune bloodline. Over time, our demonic chakra takes over and we become half-demons. We still have our Kitsune demon, but we've just got their power. ALL of their power." Ami opened her eyes and felt her Kitsune tail wave gently behind her.<br>"I-I don't hate you. Just because you have Kitsune ears and a Kitsune tail, doesn't mean you're a demon." Naruto replied quietly.  
>"You don't get it! I AM a demon!"<br>"What you are on the outside doesn't matter. It's what you are on the inside that matters." Naruto replied. Ami smiled.  
>"Enough of this!" came a snarl from behind them and Ami twisted, blocking the giant sword with her own katana.<br>"That sword is like Samehada. You one of the Seven Swords Men of the Mist?" Ami asked.  
>"Ie. I should have been, but I wasn't." snarled the man.<br>"You're like Suigetsu." murmured Naruto.  
>"Suigetsu? That kid's still alive? I thought that hebi Orochimaru got him."<br>"Ie." Naruto replied.  
>"I SAID RUN!" Ami growled angrily. "Believe me, if you don't leave..." the silent threat was left hanging in the air like a bad smell. Naruto sighed in defeat.<br>"You'd better come back."  
>"You'd better be waiting." Ami allowed the sword to slide off her katana as she leapt back, ears twitching as Naruto leapt away.<p>

* * *

><p>"Come with me and I'll spare your little friend." hissed the man.<br>"As if. You wouldn't spare Naruto-kun if I said hai anyway."  
>"True." the red-eyed man threw himself at Ami again. Ami turned and blocked the attack with her katana, struggling to keep the sword away from her. "So, what's your name, Kitsune?" the man asked, blocking Ami's attack.<br>"Kitsune Ami, heiress of the Kitsune clan."  
>"Ah, we killed off your clan ages ago."<br>"YOU DID WHAT!" Ami screamed in rage. "YOU KILLED TOU-SAN AND KAA-SAN?"  
>"I guess. We did kill everyone."<br>"YOU... YOU K-KILLED HINA? YOU KILLED MY IMOUTO! WHO ARE YOU? YOU'RE GONNA DIE! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"  
>"I'm Chi Toushiro. And I will not be the one who dies."<br>"Blood talented? Talented? Why are you called talented or intelligent?" Ami asked, calming herself down.  
>"Because talented or intelliegent is what my name means and I was considered a genius when I was a child. Blood? I don't know why my surname is Chi. I guess it's because my family is generally used for massacres." Toushiro smirked.<br>"You..." Ami's eyes narrowed. "I WILL kill you. And my Nindo is the is the same as Naruto-kun's. I will never go back on my word." Chi smirked and flicked his sword, throwing Ami's katana well out of reach. He swung the sword down and again and snarled as it was stopped by something. Ami grinned as she held her metal tonfa against her forearm, blocking the sword. With the other tonfa, she swung her arm around and smashed the metal into Toushiro's leg with a satisfying crack. Toushiro screamed in pain and leapt back, glaring at Ami who had her tonfa in a defensive postion. "I would kill you, but Ren said to bring YOU back alive... Ah, I guess it'd be worse than death anyway..." Toushiro's eyes flashed and he watched as Ami's hands flicked through seals.  
>"Suiton: Kunai Ame!" she cried, leaping away and grabbing her katana as Toushiro blocked the rain of kunai with his sword and redirected them at her. She blocked them all with her tonfa and looked around for Toushiro. "Left... Right... In front... Behind... Above... BELOW!" Ami cried as she punched through the branch and dropped straight on top of Toushiro.<br>"Kuso!" snarled Toushiro as they plummeted towards the ground. Ami slammed her tonfa into Toushiro's head with a thud and cried out as his sword cut into her leg, leaving a large gash. Ami leapt away from Toushiro, catching a branch behind her and swinging up onto it. She watched as Toushiro hit a branch and got back on his feet. "Katon: Chi Shuriken!" he hissed. Ami leapt out of the way, swinging up onto different branches as she avoided the flaming shuriken that were missing her by millimetres. She moved her head as a shuriken hit the tree beside her cheek, leaving a tiny scratch along two of the four whisker-like scars that were on her cheeks.  
>"Oooh, that was close!" she smiled as an iritated scream came from Toushiro. If you angered your enemy, they generally left gaps in their defences. It was a tactic Ami used a lot, and it almost always worked.<br>"The next one WILL hit you!" Toushiro snarled. Ami's eyes widened as she saw Toushiro summon a large tiger. "Oh Kami!" she hissed, leaping out of her tree and into the next. The tiger let out a roar and Ami slipped round the trunk of the tree, leaning against it and slowly peering around, looking for the tiger. Ami quickly checked that her katana was safely sheathed- she didn't want to injure herself while fighting the summon. Ami stiffened as the tiger's scent hit her. She leapt from the tree just as claws ripped its trunk to shreds. "Kami..." The tiger let out a roar of anger as she hit it's paw with a kunai. "NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!" a voice snarled behind her.  
>"I didn't." Ami smiled as the sword cut through her, she vanished and was replaced with a log. Toushiro looked confused before he was sent flying towards the ground. Ami smirked as she landed on the branch Toushiro had been on. There was blood on her tonfa and she wiped it off on the mossy tree trunk. There was a loud thud below her and Ami turned, twirling her tonfa round as they connected with the tiger's head, it's jaws inches from Ami's face. "I heard you coming ages ago." she snarled as the tiger vanished. Ami turned and raced through the trees, following Naruto's scent. <em>'I bet he's found the Midday patrol...'<em> she thought.  
><em>'He has Kyuubi-sama, he'll be fine.'<em> a different voice echoed through her head.  
><em>'True, Hoshi-chan.'<em> Ami smiled as the kitsune demon spoke to her.  
><em>'We should tell Naruto-kun of my presence- he has a right to know when one of Tou-san's children are near.'<em>  
><em>'Wait, Naruto-kun is Kyuubi no Kitsune's jinchuuriki?'<em>  
><em>'Hai...'<em>  
><em>'Basically, your Tou-san is sealed into Naruto-kun?'<em>  
><em>'Ossu! You've got it!'<em>  
><em>'Kuso, wasn't expecting THAT.'<em>  
><em>'...You were right.'<em>  
><em>'About what?'<em>  
><em>'Naruto HAS run into a small patrol. No more than three men, but each ANBU level...'<em> Ami silently cursed and she heard Hoshi laugh. _'But seriously, you should go help him. If you don't, he'll most likely be captured.'_  
><em>'What happened to: Kyuubi is soooo great! He'll save Naruto-kun no matter what?'<em> asked Ami as she continued to leap through the trees. Hoshi didn't answer, embarassment radiating from her seal. Ami grinned and caught a branch, swing up and landing on it, looking around the forest for signs of a fight.  
><em>'You won't find one. Naruto walked straight into one of their cage-traps. He was too worried about you to notice the patrol until it was too late.'<em> Hoshi mumured. _'He'll fight when they go in there to get him out, but he'll have restricted movement.'_  
><em>'Baka...'<em> Ami hissed, but she felt a small amount of worry penetrate her usually emotionless battle-ready mind. She saw a small cloud of dust fly up not too far from her and she stiffened. _'Is that it...?'_ she wondered, hurrying over.  
><em>'They've caught him!'<em> Hoshi's fear-filled mind tore into Ami's mind.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry I didn't upload this earlier! I've been busy and I thought I'd uploaded it. I realised I hadn't yesterday and then Fanfiction wouldn't let me onto my account. (I think it might have been the internet...)

Toby860: Thanks for the review, I'll try to add some more background. I'm not planning on adding it all in one go and Ami's character isn't the sort who'd tell everyone her life story the instant she meets them. She WILL tell Naruto soon, but she will keep some to herself for a while.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; Kishimoto Masashi does.

'IE!' Ami cried out as she raced forwards with terror in her eyes. 'IE! NARUTO-KUN!' she scrambled over a large branch and saw three nin surrounding a figure bound in chakra-sealing chains. 'Naruto-kun...'  
>"Where is the Kitsune girl?" snarled one.<br>"I'll never tell you!" Naruto cried. He gasped as the nin kicked him, sending him flying into a tree.  
>"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" screamed Ami, launching herself at the shinobi. 'THEY'RE GONNA DIE!' she screamed in her mind. "Ami-chan!" Naruto gasped in a weak voice. Ami let out the yelp agan and almost instantly there were several winged kitsune by her side.<br>"Naruto-san!" Naoki's eyes narrowed as he saw the chains. "A-Ami-chan... That's not N-Naruto-san..."  
>"Nani? Am I too late?" Ami felt tears begin to form in her eyes. Naruto couldn't have been captured.<br>"Ie, he's here. Genjutsu." Naoki explained. Ami nodded and leapt at 'Naruto'. She grabbed her katana and made a small slash down Naruto's arm.  
>"So, you figured it out..." 'Naruto' laughed as the genjutsu melted away and revealed him to be the leader of Ren's shinobi. Ami silently cursed her bad luck.<br>"AMI!" a cried came from behind her and Ami turned, seeing Naruto, his wrists tied behind him. He was coated in blood mostly his own by the smell of it. "I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL!" she hissed in exasperation. Naruto grinned foxily. "Uh, yeah... I was worried about you... That guy seemed to be quite tough." Naruto was still quite optimistic and he seemed to be amused by Ami, despite the fact that he was currently being held prisoner, faced torture and, perhaps, death. Ami rolled her eyes and signalled to Naoki, who leapt forwards and set about mauling the patrol while Ami swung her tonfa behind her, hitting the leader in the chin from where he was looming over her, sword ready to bring down.  
>"Well, I know Toushiro's name, so what's your name?" she asked, as though starting off a conversation between two people who'd just been introduced.<br>"Why do you need to know, Kitsune girl?"  
>"'Cause I need it to put on your grave." Ami smiled and the man flinched.<br>"What makes you so sure you can defeat me?"  
>"The fact that YOU just flinched." Ami smiled again and her kitsune tail waved proudly beind her. "I guess it does no harm to me. My name is Kenji."<br>"Hmm... Intelligent second son? Got a surname?"  
>"Ie."<br>"Aww... Poor ickle you..." Ami's voice changed and became mocking. Kenji scowled. "If you're not careful, I'll have my patrol murder that damn genin over there." he snarled. Ami turned serious again, knowing that Kenji was not the kind to make idle threats. She turned and hissed in annoyance.  
>"NAOKI YOU BAKA!" Ami screeched.<br>"There's three of them! They're ANBU level- I'm ONE winged Kitsune!" Naoki complained from where he was pinned to the ground underneath several heavy chain-nets. "Besides- I took down that guy." Naoki angled his ears toward one of the shinobi, who was lying on the ground, the back of his legs torn completely open. Ami groaned and blocked an attack fron Kenji without looking. "Kenji-taichou?" called the shinobi who was holding a sword against Naruto's throat. Kenji looked at him and had to duck to avoid a tonfa that was swung at his head. "Couldn't we just threaten this kid's life and bargin with her: We don't kill him if she comes quiet-" the man never finished his sentence. He cried out as an oak staff slammed itself into his neck, breaking the bone and killing him instantly. Kenji let out an exclamation of anger and swung his sword up, managing to make a scratch across Ami's eye. Ami let out a cry of pain and shook her head, sending blood flying. Kenji took the opportunity to kick her, throwing the genin into a tree. Ami tried to open her eyes, but found one stayed closed. Panic flickered through her mind. 'IE! IE! IE! I CAN'T BE HALF-BLIND!'  
>"Kami nai!" she gasped.<br>'You're not blind Ami! Get a hold of yourself! Your eye needs to heal. In time, you will be able to see out of it again.' Hoshi snarled, fear rippling through her consciousness. Ami gasped and blocked a sword aimed at her chest. Kenji scowled and nodded to the remaining shinobi. The woman grabbed Naruto from where he had been dropped beneath the tree and hit Naruto in the stomach with his staff, knocking him unconscious.  
>"If you continue to fight, we will kill the gaki." snarled the woman. Ami faltered and looked at Naruto, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. She couldn't let him die. "Well? Were you listening to Hana?" Kenji asked, smirking.<br>"Flower..." Ami smiled. "Doesn't suit your personality, Hana-san." Hana looked uncomfortable and her grip on the kunai pressed against Naruto's throat wavered. "Or maybe it does, you just don't show it. Don't you wonder what it would be like to have people accept you for who you are?" Ami almost let herself smirk. She had found a crack in the wall that was Hana's emotionless mind. A little pressure and that wall would fall. But Ami could tell that Hana was a good person. 'Maybe she could join us?' 'You cannot take in every person who has fled from Ren in.' Hoshi murmured.  
>'I know, but Hana may be a useful friend to have...'<br>'True.'  
>"Hana, if she continues, kill him." Kenji snarled.<br>"Ie." Ami's ears pricked at Hana's reply. She saw the shinobi place Naruto gently on the ground, allowing him to slump against a tree.  
>"Nani?" Kenji had a hint of anger in his voice.<br>"I said nai." Hana snarled, her waist-length black hair rippling as she lifted her head. "What Ami-san said is true. I DO wonder what it would be like to just be accepted for who I am. I have lived my life in fear ever since Sandaime-sama sent me to spy on Ren."  
>"Matte... YOU! YOU are the spy?" Kenji snarled. Ami gasped as he slammed his fist into her stomach. She dropped to the ground, next to the waking Naruto, who Hana had put down. Naruto's eyes opened a tiny bit. He saw Ami, lying on the ground next to him, clinging to consciousness.<br>"A-Ami-chan..." he gasped. "It's OK."  
>"Honto?"<br>"Hai. Hana is a friend. Sarutobi-sensei sent her as a spy." Naruto's eyes widened.  
>"Again: HONTO!" Naruto seemed oblivious to the confrontation going on behind him. Ami laughed lightly. She groaned and clutched at her stomach as it let out a painful throb. Ami stared at Naruto in shock.<br>"You- You're WHITE!" she exclaimed in horror.  
>"Nani?" Naruto's head tilted and he let out a gentle gasp of pain as he moved.<br>"Ami, Naruto's lost a LOT of blood!" Naoki hissed. "You smelt it. That blood on Naruto- over half of it is HIS blood. It's hiding the wounds. He has a gash running down his chest and a deep stab wound that's almost gone right through his leg." Kenji's sword slammed into Ami and the girl screeched in pain.  
>"Gomen!" exclaimed Hana as she pulled the sword from Ami's arm. "He's gone- that sword was meant to kill you. He's fled to Ren." Ami struggled to her feet, untying Naruto and helping him up. "Naruto-kun!" cried Ami as Naruto staggered around and collapsed into her arms. Ami gasped as she felt her wounded arm give way. Hana rushed forwards and caught Naruto as Ami dropped him. "What's wrong with him?"<br>"He's... lost a lot of blood... If he wasn't a Jinchuuriki, he would be dead by now." Ami pressed her hand against the throbbing gash on her arm and felt the blood flow through her fingers. She felt her tail droop, coated in blood. Hot blood was still running down her face from the wound over her eye. "We need to get... back..." Ami felt herself sway and she collapsed to her knees, falling on to her side.  
>"Ami-san!" cried Hana, but her words seemed slurred in the agony that was Ami's mind. Ami felt darkness pressing against the edges of her vision and she allowed herself to slip into the pain-free mist of unconsciousness.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry it's been so long! I'm planning on uploading a new chapter each Thursday and I had writers block.  
>This is 2,352 words long- my longest chapter!<br>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto- Kishimoto Masashi does.

* * *

><p>"Ami-chan?" Ami slowly opened one eye, flinching at the bright light. "Hana-san, she's awake!" Ami flinched again at the cry.<br>"Where... Where am I?" she asked quietly.  
>"Your cave." Ami looked up into Naruto's azure eyes. They closed as he grinned and sat up.<br>"You nearly died, didn't you?" Ami's eyes narrowed and Naruto's smile faded.  
>"Yeah... Kenji got away... Ren knows we're here." he shifted and Ami noticed his wince of pain despite the fact that he tried to hide it.<br>"He already knew. Besides, Toushiro would have told him."  
>"He's still alive?"<br>"Probably. He might be lying in the forest, dead, right now if you hadn't gone and got yourself caught." Ami smiled, though it hurt and she winced.  
>"It wasn't my fault! They'd set up a triple trap and when I was trying to get out, they ambushed me!" Naruto complained. Ami looked away, knowing she would have been caught too. It was her fault for deciding to go for the deer the other side of Chi Clearing.<br>"How long was I unconscious?" asked Ami.  
>"An hour longer than me. Hana said I should be dead right now. Actually, even being a jinchuuriki, I REALLY should be dead. I'm lucky I guess." Naruto smiled sadly. "Hana says we were unconscious for several days... Naoki's been hysterical." Ami sighed and sat up as Hana and Naoki rushed into the room. Naruto leapt to his feet and Hana scowled.<br>"I TOLD YOU! YOU'RE STILL RECOVERING! STAY STILL!" she screeched irritably, slapping Naruto on the back of the head and causing him to fall over.  
>"Ow." he muttered, struggling into a sitting position.<br>"Kon'nichiwa, Naoki!" Ami grinned at the kitsune, whose eye twitched.  
>"KON'NICHIWA! YOU NEARLY DIED AND YOU SAY 'KON'NICHIWA'?" Naoki screamed.<br>"Well, hai, I just said kon'nichiwa." Ami grinned as Naoki's tail thrashed side to side angrily.  
>"Naoki-san..." Hana warned. Naoki growled, turned and stalked out of the cave.<br>"Aww, come on Naoki-kun!" Ami called. A faint hiss came from outside the cave, but Naoki did not return. A throb of agony came from Ami's chest and she clutched at it, at exactly the same time as Naruto clutched the wound in his gut.  
>"Chakra..." whispered Naruto, clearly in more pain than Ami. "Kenji's tracking us using CHAKRA!" Ami's eyes widened as she remembered the faint disturbance in her chakra each time Kenji had wounded her.<br>"That... May be a problem..." Ami murmured.  
>"A PROBLEM!" came a screech from outside and Naoki stormed back in. "WE'RE GONNA BE IN CONSTANT DANGER AND YOU SAY 'WE MAY HAVE A PROBLEM!'"<br>"So you WERE outside..." Ami grinned and Naoki hissed in plain anger.  
>"You don't seem to be able to grasp the severity of this situation, Ami-chan." he snarled, drawing out the '-chan' in a hiss.<br>"Oh, I do." Ami replied. "We'll have to leave. Now." Naruto's eyes widened.  
>"Ami-chan, you may be able to travel, but I can't. Not fast, anyway." he watched the girl's eyes widen in shock. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you- your eye's healed." Ami rolled her eyes.<br>"I know, but WHY can't you travel fast enough?" Ami asked. Naruto turned and showed her several deep gashes on the backs of his legs. "Oh... Ah, Naoki, Shou or Rin could carry you."  
>"Shou? Rin?" asked Naruto, looking confused.<br>"Winged kitsunes." Naoki muttered. A kuro kitsune walked in, her amber eyes glittering in worry.  
>"Naoki-kun! Kenji's nearby. Another mile or so and he'll have found the caves!" the kitsune's eyes flashed fearfully.<br>"Come on!" Ami stood up, swiftly followed by Naruto. This time, she did not miss his hiss of pain. The kitsune slipped behind Naruto and supported him as he struggled to stand. "Arigato, Rin-chan." Ami smiled at the kitsune.  
>"Arigato, Rin-chan." Naruto echoed. Rin smiled, her fur rippling as she moved to stand by Naoki. Ami grabbed several deer-skin bags and filled them with cooked meat, herbs, the few vegetables she'd found, seeds and some berries from the bushes outside. She tossed several metal bottles to Naruto and motioned to the waterfall; Naruto nodded and went to fill them. Hana began to gather some of the blankets and weapons. She threw several bags of kunai, shuriken, senbon and ninja-wire at Ami's feet, earning a smile from the girl. Ami turned and picked three intricatly carved staffs, tossing two to Naruto and Hana and keeping one for herself. She picked up her katana and slid it into it's sheath, strapping it to her back before picking up another, curved sword. It's blade was an inky kuro and it's sheath was just as kurai. She balanced the blade on her hands, examining the hilt before tossing it at Naruto, who caught it without looking.<br>"For me?" he asked.  
>"Hai, I thought you might need a sword." Naruto looked at it, staring for a while at the carving of a kitsune head that was its pommel. There was the Uzumaki clan's symbol on the cross guard and the kanji for 'Yoru' was engraved upon the blade. The hilt was quite long and the weapon could be either one or two handed.<br>"Where did you get it?" Naruto asked, giving the blade a few swings.  
>"In Misuto Forest, there's a clearing where a battle was fought, many, many, years ago according to Jubi-kun. Ren stripped it of most of its valuables, but I found this buried under the rubble along with my own katana and several other swords, katanas, tonfa, daggers etc." Ami explained. Naruto nodded.<br>"It... It feels like an extension of my arm... Except it's deadly..." Naruto murmured.  
>"Good." replied Ami. "That sword will save your life in battles. If Yoru feels natural to wield, it will be easier to fight with." she continued to search through the chest until she found Hana's blade. She tossed it at the spy, who caught it quickly by the handle, while Naruto had caught it with his fingers on the flat of the blade.<br>"It's called Yoru? Night?" asked Naruto. Ami nodded.  
>"Though it could be called Yoru-shi- Night death- Yoru is its name." Naruto tossed the bottles at Ami, who lifted her staff and caught each bottle by the metal ring on its lid. She dropped them into a bag and murmured a jutsu, sealing each bag into a scroll that she tied to her belt. "OK, we're ready." Ami looked around her cave one last time, stamping out the glowing embers of her fire before she stalked out of the entrance and into the forest.<p>

"Naruto-kun, are you OK?" asked Ami from where she was leaping next to Rin. Naruto smiled from the kitsune and nodded. They could feel Kenji's presence getting further away and while each leap was agony to Ami, she didn't allowed herself any rests. "Are you OK, though? It IS my fault you had to leave your home." Naruto looked troubled.  
>"I'm fine. Once Kenji's jutsu has worn off, we can go back. Anyway, there's an old Kitsune village somewhere around here. Or the ruins of one anyway. Ren wiped it out ages ago." Ami sighed a little. "Of course, every Kitsune village is gone now. We were almost wiped out with the Uzumaki. Kaa-san, Tou-san, Hina and a few other Kitsunes managed to stay undetected a few miles outside of Konoha. Then I joined the academy..." Ami shook her head.<p>

* * *

><p>-Flashback-<p>

_"Ja ne, Kaa-san!" a 5-year-old Ami smiled at her Kaa-san as she ran into the Academy, a young silver-and-orange kitsune racing along beside her. Her grey-blue eyes sparkled with barely supressed excitement, although she was already beginning to show the typical, calm, Kitsune demeanor. She was old enough to understand the glares and comments directed at her by the villagers, and they hurt. Despite the fact that she was a Kitsune and everyone knew she had a decendant of Kyuubi sealed in her, she had expected Konohagakure to be a little kinder. The Kitsunes were not trusted, nor were they respected for the sacifice the Clan had made by keeping the Yokai from attacking the Five Great Nations. Still, there was the Academy to explore, friends to make and she wanted to practice summoning kitsunes. The kitsune with her was the summon that was bonded to her. Her Tou-san had explained that the bonded kitsunes were the Winged Kitsunes they summoned. Naoki, her kitsune, hadn't grown his wings yet. Each Kitsune had their own Bonded Kitsune. No one knew why. But they made good companions._

* * *

><p><em>"SIT DOWN!" the sensei yelled at the class as they raced around the room. Ami was sitting on a table on the third row, reading her book on summoning. Next to her, a Kage Bunshin was reading a book on elemental bunshins. Using this method, Ami read two books in one and she already knew how to create Mizu Bunshins. At the sensei's yell, Ami dispelled the bunshin and caught it's book on the end of her katana before placing the book in her bag and the katana in its sheath on her back. Suddenly a young Inzuka leapt into the seat beside her, his inu yapping in excitement. Naoki regarded it with a lazy stare from where he was lying on Ami's shoulder, before directing his attention to the sensei.<em>  
><em>"Ohayo! I'm Inzuka Kiba!" the Inzuka grinned. "I'm Kitsune Ami, Kiba-san." she smiled at him and looked at his inu. "And you are?" she yapped at the inu.<em>  
><em>"Akamaru." the inu replied, seemily unaware that Ami had just spoken to it in inu.<em>  
><em>"You spoke to Akamaru?" exclaimed Kiba. Ami nodded. "Sugoi! No one has ever spoken to him before!" "OK!" yelled the sensei, before turning his voice nice and calm as the class turned to stare at him. "Now, I know this is your first day at the Academy, but we still have to treat it like a normal academy day. We have Taijutsu next and Kunai Practice after that." After the register, the sensei lead them into a large dojo, where they each demonstrated the moves they already knew (If any) in a short spar with the sensei, who Ami had learnt, was called Iruka.<em>  
><em>When it was Ami's turn, Iruka's eyes widened when he saw Naoki follow Ami.<em>  
><em>"Are you going to fight with the kitsune?" he asked. Ami turned and saw Naoki.<em>  
><em>"Naoki-kun, go back." she barked at him. Naoki tilted his head before retreating back to the edge of the sparring area.<em>  
><em>"Nani? Did she just talk to that kitsune?" murmurs swept through the crowd.<em>  
><em>"She told it to go back! Why is that so great? You can all understand Japanese, can't you?" came an exasperated voice from the front of the crowd. Ami raised her eyebrows- someone knew kitsune, but they didn't even realise it.<em>  
><em>"Baka! You couldn't have understood! She barked at it! If ANYONE could have understood her it would have been Sasuke-kun!" a pink-haired girl yelled. Ami rolled her eyes. Fangirls. They were a disgrace to kunoichi. Ami looked at the boy who had understood her. He had blonde hair, azure eyes and three whisker-marks on each cheek. They reminded her of the two whisker-marks on her own cheeks.<em>  
><em>"OK, enough!" yelled Iruka, looking strangely at the boy, before returning his attention to Ami. He nodded and Ami immediately raced at him, leaping into the air and kicking out at Iruka's head. The chuunin caught Ami's foot and swung her round. Ami lashed out with her other foot, leaping out of Iruka's grip and flipping in the air. The instant she landed, Ami's foot shot out and knocked one of the startled chuunin's feet out from underneath him. Ami leapt up and knocked Iruka over before she stood waiting for Iruka to get up.<em>  
><em>"Is that enough, sensei, or should I show you some more advanced moves? Those are the simplest I knew." Ami asked innocently. "And I was holding back."<em>  
><em>"Err... Ami, where did you learn those moves?" asked Iruka.<em>  
><em>"My Kaa-san and Ryuu-sensei taught them to me." Ami explained. Iruka nodded.<em>  
><em>"Ah, hai, you're the Kitsune girl, aren't you? The Kitsune's are known for their taijutsu... and jutsu... and weapon handling..." Iruka listed every skill the Kitsunes were known for that he knew. "You're basically like the Uzumaki and Namikaze..." Iruka gave up listing skills. "Well... Back to your place, Ami."<em>

* * *

><p><em>After the target practice, Ami found another academy student who seemed to excel at accuracy. "Kitsune girl!" the boy yelled. Ami stopped from where she had been heading over to the blonde on the swing.<em>  
><em>"You're Sasuke, right?" asked Ami. The boy looked at her and nodded.<em>  
><em>"UCHIHA Sasuke." he corrected her.<em>  
><em>"Uchiha?" she asked.<em>  
><em>"Hai, I am the last of the great Uchiha. You should feel honoured that I am talking to you." Sasuke lifted his head proudly. Ami scowled and grabbed the Uchiha's collar.<em>  
><em>"Listen, Uchiha, I don't CARE if you are the last of your clan, a name doesn't mean anything on the battlefield if you don't have any skills. You could be Kami-sama and no one would care. Not in a battle. Now stop acting so high and mighty and actually live up to the Uchiha name!" Ami snarled. Sasuke's eyes widened in fear at the anger in the girl's voice and he shook her off, stumbling back before stalking away, head held high. Ami sniffed irritably before turning and walking towards the blonde again.<em>  
><em>"Sugoi, I didn't think anyone'd do that to that baka!" laughed the blonde as she approached him. "I'm Naruto, and I'm guessing you're Kitsune Ami, hai?"<em>  
><em>"Hai. How did you understand me?" she asked. Naruto tilted his head to one side in confusion. "I spoke in kitsune to Naoki. Not Japanese."<em>  
><em>"Nani? Then... Why did I understand you?" Naruto asked. Ami shrugged. "I've seen how the villagers are around you." Naruto shifted uncomfortably as Ami growled. "They do it to me too... They call me a demon... They say I killed people... But I didn't!" Naruto looked up at Ami, his eyes watering.<em>  
><em>'He... He's got a demon in him too!' thought Ami in shock.<em>


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry I haven't uploaded this sooner, but I've been ill.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi does.

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><p>"Ami-chan? Daijoubu?" Naruto's voice drew Ami from her memories and she found tears glistening in her eyes.<br>"Oh... Er... Hai, it's OK." Ami grinned and blinked, pushing the tears from her eyes. _'Tell him.'_ Hoshi's voice echoed in Ami's mind.  
><em>'Hoshi-chaaaaaan...'<em>  
><em>'Tell him, or I will take over your mind and tell him for you!<em>' Hoshi growled. Ami cringed and sighed.  
>"Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked at Ami curiously, tilting his head to one side. "Do you remember the girl who spoke to you on the first day at the academy? The one with the kitsune? Naoki?" Ami watched Naruto's eyes narrow in confusion.<br>"I don't remember my first few months at the academy. I can remember running into its gates and I can remember just after, but I can't remember my time in the academy. I've never really taken much notice of it." Naruto sighed. "Was I your friend?" he asked quietly. Ami nodded silently.  
>"Kai." Ami placed her hands in a seal and watched as Naruto's eyes filled with shock.<br>"I-I was under a genjutsu all this time?" he whispered.  
>"Ie. It was a seal. You were with me when I was captured. Ren placed it on you after you tried to fight him." Ami looked away sadly, remembering her horror as Naruto had collapsed after Ren had almost killed him. She had thought Naruto was dead. She had thought it was all her fault. Ie. She had KNOW it was all her fault.<br>"Ami-chan... gomen... I was so useless when you were caught! If it hadn't been for Kakashi-sensei finding me, I would have died in the forest." Naruto wailed.  
>"Naruto-kun, it's OK. It wasn't your fault Ren ambushed us. We were only about 7." Ami sighed as she remembered the incident that had torn her from the Kitsune Clan.<p>

-8 years ago-

_"Ami-chan, you're so lucky!" Naruto laughed as he ran through the forest after Ami and Naoki._  
><em>"Why?" asked Ami, stopping.<em>  
><em>"Your family's really nice, you have Naoki..." Naruto smiled, ignoring the emptiness where his own family should have been. He was treated like another member of the Kitsune Clan, but it wasn't the same.<em>  
><em>"And we have you. Come on, Naruto-kun, you're lucky too!" Ami grinned at Naruto. There was a muffled cry of pain from the bushes in front of them; Ami flinched put her hand over her stomach. "Naoki-kun...?" she called uncertainly.<em>  
><em>"Ami-chan, what's wrong?" asked Naruto. Ami shook her head.<em>  
><em>"I don't know. It's weird... Wait here, Naruto-kun." Ami raced into the bushes; Naruto watched her go, his eyes flickering with worry.<em>  
><em>"Ami-chan?" Narto called after a few minutes. He walked into the bushes, looking around worriedly. "Ami-chan?" he called, a little louder this time.<em>  
><em>"NARUTO-KUN!" a scream ripped through the still night air, cut off almost as soon as it had sounded.<em>  
><em>"AMI-CHAN!" Naruto began to run, racing towards the voice.<em>

_Naruto hit the ground again, coughing out blood for the millionth time._  
><em>"NARUTO-KUN! Nigeru!" Ami cried again.<em>  
><em>"NEVER!" Naruto threw himself at the man in front of him, ignoring the sword-blade and trying not to think about the fact that he had no weapons on him.<em>  
><em>"Naruto-kun..." Ami felt tears running down her face as the sword flashed down again and Naruto fell onto one knee, a deep gash down his leg. Naruto tried to get back up, but his leg wouldn't support him and he fell back down, crying out in pain. The deep gash across his chest began to throb again and Naruto wailed in pain as the man stabbed the sword stright through him. "Ami... chan..." Naruto whispered as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness, watching as the man picked Ami up and began to leave, racing through the trees.<em>

_"NARUTO-KUN!" Ami screamed as she saw the man's team mate tie Naruto's blood-stained hands behind him, before tossing him carelessly into the undergrowth. "Shut up, gaki." snarled her attacker. Ami growled and began to kick at the man. He sighed and raised a hand, knocking her unconscious in a single blow._

- End Flashback-

"What happened after I was taken?" asked Ami quietly. Naruto looked away.  
>"I... I was found by Kakashi-sensei and some other ANBU while they were on patrol. If they had been a few minutes later, I would have died... Actually I could have died even if they'd found me an hour earlier. Well, after I'd been healed, the Sandaime asked me what had happened. Obviously, I had no idea. The Sandaime asked Inochi to see if I was under a genjutsu, but the seal was probably too complex for him to find. Inochi said there were large parts of my memory missing- most was in the Academy. I still had the skills I'd learnt- I just didn't know how I'd got them. A day later, the Sandaime- actually, I call him Ojiichan, told me the Kitsune Clan had been wiped out, but there was no sign of the heiress-you. He'd heard that I was your friend, but I had no idea who you were or what any of it had to do with me. Ojiichan told me that I'd been found near the Kitsune Clan village and I might have seen something. I only remembered someone stabbing me with a sword. I couldn't describe Ren perfectly, but Ojiichan knew who I was talking about." Naruto watched as Ami clenched her fists and blinked away the tears that were forming in her eyes.<br>"S-so Hina-chan wasn't even in the Academy when she was murdered... DAMMIT!" Ami punched the trees until her knuckles were bleeding. "Why did Ren have to kill my Clan? Wasn't capturing me enough?" Naruto sighed and watched as the kitsunes surrounding them growled angrily.  
>"The Kitsune Clan was an extremely proud Clan- you should know that much. If they'd been left alive, your Clan would have hunted Ren down no matter what it cost them." Naruto watched Ami's hands slowly relax.<br>"That's true. We always were too stubborn." Ami laughed even as tears ran down her cheeks. "I can remember how Tou-san used to challenge anyone he deemed worthy to fight, and once he'd started to fight, he wouldn't give in until he was unconscious or half-dead. He challenged Kakashi-san a few times. Won most of the battles, actually." Ami lifted her hand and wiped it across her eyes. "Our pride was what caused our destruction..."  
>"They went down fighting. Even Hina was found with the enemies she had killed surrounding her and Hikari. She was only four, but she killed. She killed for your Clan. She killed for YOU." Naruto smiled gently.<br>"You know the name of Hina's winged kitsune...? Of course. I introduced you two. The night I was captured was the first time you met all of us." Ami smiled sadly. "I don't understand how they could have killed us all off. We were so powerful! We rivalled the Hyuga for Kami-sama's sake!" Ami growled a little.  
>"They sent over a three hundered shinobi to wipe out a clan of thirty. Only about fifty of the shinobi survived. You should be proud of your clan." Naruto saw Ami's eyes widened before fresh tears fell from them.<br>"Hai, I am proud of them." Ami smiled, before her wounds let out a fresh throb. She saw Naruto wince in pain and instantly knew what it meant- Kenji knew where they were.  
>"Ami-chan!" Naruto gasped, eyes filled with pain.<br>"I know! Naoki-kun, the plains... Should we go there?" Ami watched Naoki as he considered it.  
>"Ie. Too open. Past Chi Clearing. You're heading there already." Naoki watched Ami's eyes widen.<br>"Ossu! I guess I was just getting away from Ren's castle-thingy." Ami grinned and sped up. Behind them, Hana had listened to their conversation in suprise. The Sandaime had mentioned the Kitsune massacre when he'd assigned her the job of spying on Ren- but Ami had escaped literally as she got there, so she knew nothing of the girl. The Sandaime had asked about a Kitsune girl, but Hana had merely replied with 'A prisoner escaped the day before I got here. It was a young girl called Ami. She was twelve and had been here five years.' If the Sandaime's reaction was anything to go by, Ami was probably an important person. Then there was the... yokai...? Hana shook her head. Ie. She knew of the Kitsune Curse, but Ami's yokai didn't seem to be any different from the rest. As far as Hana knew, Ami only knew she was a half-demon. She probably had no idea of the power of her own yokai. Actually, Hana KNEW that Ami would know her yokai was Hoshi, but Ami certainly didn't know about Hoshi's power. If she did... Hana shivered. Ami would use that power for good, she knew that, but still... Hana's thoughts flicked back to reality as Ami began to speak again.  
>"Sometimes... Sometimes, I think I'd give anything to see my Clan again. See my Kaa-san again. Just once. But then, I know I wouldn't. It's... a strange feeling... I can't place it... To see Hina again, a genin, a chuunin... I'd love to see that. I'd love that to happen. I'd love it to happen even if I could never see it. But it won't happen. Ren killed Hina-chan. He killed my Imouto. When I learnt that... My hopes... They were all gone. In an instant. One sentence... That one sentence destroyed me." Ami shuddered and Hana felt a wave of sympathy for the girl. She knew what it was like to loose family. She'd lost her entire family in the Shinobi war. But then, they were already chuunin, jonin, ANBU. They knew they'd fight one too many battles. She'd prepared herself for their deaths. They'd prepared themselves for her death. But Ami's situation was different. Hina had had her whole life ahead of her. She was four. FOUR when she was killed, four when she killed other humans. If she had survived that... Hana knew that it would have broken the girl. Maybe Hina's death had been for the best. She might have turned out like Sasuke.<br>"Ami-chan, I know what it's like. I want to see my parents. Just once. That's what I tell myself. But they're dead. I'll see them eventually. I just have to wait. I know that. But still... When I do see them, eventually, I'll be able to see them as often as I like. But if I just saw them once, and then they were gone and I had to wait again..." Naruto closed his eyes and sighed sadly. Ami looked away, eyes watering again. She hadn't shown emotions like this for several years now and she was still a shaken from the realisation that her Clan was dead. Did that mean she was the leader of nothing? She'd been the heiress. Now she was the leader of a clan with no one else in it.  
>Great.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto.  
>I've now realised exactly what I'm like with deadlines, so expect new chapters to be later than a Thursday!<p>

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><p>"Naruto-kun, we're here!" Naruto jumped as Ami cheerfully punched his arm. "Did I fall asleep?" asked Naruto, irritated with himself. Naoki looked at Ami, who rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.<br>"Um... Naoki-kun?" Ami grinned and backed away from Naruto.  
>"Ami accidentally knocked you off Rin when you were half-asleep. We were about 50m up a tree. If you hadn't hit a branch, you would have probably died." Naoki sighed, his eyes closing for a moment. Naruto looked at Ami, his head tilted to one side.<br>"You save me, then you try to kill me?" he asked, trying, and failing, to stop himself from laughing.  
>"Yup." Ami grinned.<br>"So... How long have I been out?"  
>"Where? Outside?" asked Ami. Naoki sighed again and stalked into the tiny tunnel-entrance. "Not long. An hour? Maybe two?" Ami squinted up at the sun, "Ah, it was an hour." Naruto nodded.<br>"I have one tiny question." he muttered.  
>"Ask away!" Ami grinned cheerfully, beginning to make her way towards the tiny kitsune-sized tunnel.<br>"How the hell are we gonna get down that tunnel?"

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><p>-5 minutes of a looooong explanation later-<p>

"YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT I CAN TURN INTO A KITSUNE?" screeched Naruto, looking incredulously at the large kitsune sitting in front of him.  
>"Yup." the kitsune barked. "Aw, come on! You know you can!" Ami grinned and watched as Naruto nervously eyed her sharp claws.<br>"Ie, I don't." Naruto growled. Ami's fur was a light blonde- like her hair- with patches of black, but she still appeared to be able to blend in with the area.  
>"Hmm... OK. Look, it's these seals, and you don't have to say anything. Pretty simple. Just a kekkei genkai." Ami grinned as she released the jutsu to show Naruto the seals.<br>"Kekkei genkai? Then only the Kitsune Clan can use that jutsu! I'm not a Kitsune!" Naruto snarled, exasperated.  
>"Uzumaki Kushina, your Kaa-san, was related to one of the Kitsunes who was killed in the massacre." Ami looked away. "So, you're part Kitsune, part Uzumaki and part Namikaze."<br>"AH! WHY IS EVERYTHING SO DAMN COMPLICATED!" Naruto screeched.  
>"The jutsu isn't." Ami watched Naruto's eye twitch and she backed slowly away. "I know the jutsu isn't." hissed Naruto in a dangerously calm voice. "SO- Huh?" Naruto tried to stand up from where Rin had laid him, but a sharp pain ran through his leg. The pain had been there when he woke up, but Naruto hadn't taken much notice of it. Now he had taken notice of it, it was hard to imagine how he had ignored it. The pain from the throbs increased as Naruto tried to move his leg again and he groaned in pain.<br>"Naruto? What's wrong?" Ami asked, slowly creeping forwards.  
>"I think my ankle's broken." Naruto sighed in annoyance. "Well, that's not very helpful." Ami frowned and ran her hand over Naruto's ankle.<br>"How didn't I notice that?" she asked. "Naruto, it's NOT your ankle-" Naruto sighed in relief, "Your lower leg's been smashed." Ami told him happily.  
>"Oh, now that's just fantastic, isn't it?" Naruto muttered sarcastically.<br>"Hai! I can practise my medical ninjutsu! Just a warning- I'm not very good at shattered bones. This MAY hurt a little..."  
>"IE! Get away from me!" Naruto screeched, trying to drag himself back from Ami's glowing green chakra. "GET AWAY!"<p>

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><p>"Ossu! Now that's over, we can try out the jutsu, Naruto-kun!" Ami grinned as Naruto tentatively placed his foot on the ground. There was no sharp pain, just a small dull throbbing from the shards of bone that had to heal a tiny bit more. Ami didn't flinch as Naruto glared at her and reached for his oak staff, before his hand paused, inches away, twitching in frustration. He growled before flicking through the hand seal. There was a small puff of smoke and Naruto looked around.<br>"Why is everything so... sharper now?" he asked. "And lower. I can hear better, I can smell more things... I know my senses are sharper than other people's, but not THIS sharp."  
>"You're a kitsune." Ami's eyes were wide in disbelief. "And you have nine tails."<br>"NANI?" Naruto screeched. He twisted around, and saw the red tails waving behind him. "Nine? Oh Kami, I'll be easy to see..."  
>"Actually, you could just pretend to be a yokai. They're quite rare, but the kitsune ones have more tails than ordinary kitsunes."<br>"There aren't any yokai in Misuto Forest are there? From Kyuubi's hatred of this place, I'm guessing they'd have left by now." Naruto looked confused.  
>"True... Yokai don't live around here..." Ami growled in frustration, "Stop making things so complicated! You are a yokai that got left behind!"<br>"Yokai-" Naruto began, a gleam of amusment in his eyes.  
>"I don't want to hear it!" Ami stormed into the tunnel, her tail flicking Naruto's ear as she swept past him.<br>"I was going to say that yokai don't live in groups!" called Naruto, hurrying after her.  
>"Naruto-san, I think Ami intends to set a trap at the end of the tunnel." Naoki watched Naruto's eyes narrow in mischief. "Oh, fantastic. I shouldn't have told you, should I?" Naruto shook his head.<br>"Done! Naruto-kun, can you come down here?" Ami called sweetly.  
>"AMI-CHAN! KENJI'S HERE!" shrieked Naruto. There was a loud crash, followed by smoke pouring from the tunnel. Ami raced out, ice-cold water dripping from her fur, a fine layer of ash coating her head.<br>"Where?" she asked, before seeing Naruto failing to stop himself from laughing.  
>"Here." a voice hissed from behind the small hill. Ami twisted around, eyes filled with horror. It was quite hard to see through the long grass of the clearing, but Ami could make out the shapes of several shinobi.<br>"Nani? Kenji's actually here?" Naruto squeaked in fear. Ami's eye twitched.  
>"You knew about the trap? I'll kill you once I'm done with Kenji!" Naruto gulped.<br>"Ami-chan? Can we escape underground?" he asked.  
>"Of course! Naruto-kun, you're a genius!" Ami yelped. She raced down the tunnel, swiftly followed by Naruto.<br>"Ami-chan!" Ami turned to see Naruto struggling to pull one of his tails from Kenji's grip. Naruto clawed at the tunnel's walls but he found himself being slowly pulled out. He twisted around and bit down on Kenji's hand. The man cursed and let go of Naruto's tail, sending him tumbling down the tunnel. Naruto looked up to see Ami watching him in concern.  
>"Are you OK?" she asked. Naruto nodded and looked around the small cave. The rock walls were dry and smooth, while the floor was a soft, white sand that his paws sank into with every step. "Where are we?" he asked.<br>"Just a small cave I use when I'm out hunting and have to stay overnight." Ami looked towards the tunnel they had just come from. The sand around it was wet and there was a broken tripwire hanging off the wall.  
>"That was the trap?" asked Naruto, amused. Ami growled and walked into a larger tunnel. This one did not have smooth walls or a soft floor. The walls were a jagged rock and the floor, a mossy stream.<br>"Naruto-kun, do you want to leave now or wait until Kenji's gone?" she asked, walking back out from the tunnel.  
>"We should wait a bit." Naoki muttered from where he sat opposite them. "You're tired, Ami-chan and Naruto still can't fully use his one leg." "True." Ami sat down and watched as Naruto did the same, laying his head on his paws.<br>"What happens if Kenji gets in?" asked Naruto tiredly.  
>"He won't. A summon might, but this cave is too small for anything to fight in and we could crush it easily together." Ami reassured Naruto and he smiled, closing his eyes. Somebody yelled something at the other end of the tunnel and Ami tilted her head to one side.<br>"Oh Kami!" Naruto scrambled up as water flooded the tunnel, swiftly filling the cave. "Ami-chan!" he cried before he was cut off by the water. Ami swam towards the exit tunnel, gasping for breath as she raced up it. "Ami-chan! Naruto isn't following!" cried Naoki. Ami's head whipped around.  
>"Nani?" she raced back towards the water and dove in, quickly spotting Naruto, who had caught his paw in the tripwire. He looked up as she swam over and a stream of bubbles came from his mouth. The water around Naruto's paw was a mist-like red and he had stopped pulling at it, being too weak to do so. Ami tore at the rope with her claws, eventually managing to sever it. She pushed Naruto towards the exit tunnel and he managed to swim most of the way by himself.<br>"I didn't think Kenji'd try that..." muttered Ami as Naruto coughed up water.  
>"Neither did I." he muttered in between coughs. "Damn smart missing-nin..." Ami laughed and began to make her way up the tunnel again. Naoki was standing at the exit, sniffing the air.<br>"They haven't found us yet, but they will when Kenji uses that irritating jutsu of his." he called down to them. Naruto raced after Ami, shaking the water from his fur. Naruto stumbled to one side as he felt a familiar throb of agony from his wounds. Ami turned and looked at him as they both realised what had happened.  
><em>'KENJI!'<em>


	9. Chapter 9

_... _Just ignore my deadline. Seriously, the day I do something on time, even I'LL be suprised.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto. (But I did create Ami!)

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><p>'There isn't much we can do... Kenji's not far away... If we run, he'll catch up to us easily... If we hide, he'll find us... If we fight, they'll destroy us! DAMMIT!'<p>

Ami shrieked in her mind. _'If I stall them long enough for Naruto-kun to get away... Hai, that might work... But Kenji could track him again... On his own, Naruto-kun is no match for them all...'_  
><em>'Ami-chan. I have one thing you SHOULD be thinking about. Where's Hana-san?'<em> Hoshi muttered. Ami's head shot up in horror.  
><em>'Oh KAMI! They've probably caught her! I forgot all about Hana!'<em> Naruto tilted his head as Ami let out a growl of frustration.  
>"Ami-chan? Do you know what happened to Hana? She's not here and I won't worry about Kenji until I know she's safe." Naruto watched Ami stare up at the sky.<br>"I don't know. Kenji's probably caught her." Ami felt a tear fall from her eye, the fur below her eye beginning to soak in the salty water.  
>"B-but..." Naruto stammered. "What about the Kitsune like Rin? They just vanished!"<br>"They were summons. They went back. I know that much." Ami groaned and sniffed the air, hoping to find the scent of Hana. It was there, covered in blood.  
>"Ami-chan? Can you smell all that blood? 'Cause I can. Hana's dead, isn't she?" Naruto felt himself begin to cry as he realised the Konoha shinobi was dead. "I can't believe we left her there! It's not fair!" Something inside Ami's head clicked and horror flooded er as she remembered Hana's last words to her. 'You go on. I'll hold them off for a bit. I'll follow after. Don't worry about me! I'll be fine!' Hana's smile had reassured Ami then. Now, it seemed to be mocking her. She hadn't been fine. She didn't follow them.<br>"NARUTO-KUN! Hana left us! I know that. She said she'd hide and try to stall Kenji! She said she'd follow. I'd forgotten, but she must have tried to fight them all..." Ami let out a low cry of sadness. Naruto was right. She shouldn't have left Hana. Even with Naruto unconscious, an easy target, she should have forced Hana to come. She should have thought SOMETHING of the Kitsune's with Hana vanishing. _'Hoshi-chan? Is Hana dead...?'_ Ami asked, knowing that Hoshi could sense people's presence when Ami was in her mindscape. Hoshi was silent for a while, before suprise flickered through her consciousness.  
><em>'Hai... Ami-chan, Hana died after killing three of Kenji's shinobi. Kenji tried to get information out of her, but Hana didn't say anything.'<em> Hoshi turned away sadly, her glowing green eye closing from a moment. _'She knew...'_ Hoshi thought. _'She knew what I don't...'_  
><em>'Nani?<em>' Ami turned back to Hoshi from where she had been staring into the forest of her mindscape.  
><em>'Nothing. I was just wondering about something.'<em> Hoshi quickly replied. _'You should tell Naruto-kun about Hana.'_ Ami nodded and vanished from her mindscape.  
>"She's dead... Hana-chan is dead, Naruto-kun... Kenji tried to get information on us, but she wouldn't give him any. She killed three of Kenji's shinobi."<br>"D-dead..." Naruto's eyes flickered between disbelief and mourning. "She died for us... Ami-chan? Can we go back to find her... her body?" Ami looked at him, silent.  
>'Go back. I'll use a jutsu to find out how she died. It might make you feel better.' Hoshi murmured gently.<br>"Ossu. We'll go back. We can head out over the plains. Find that old Kitsune village I told you about. A couple of the buildings are still standing and our buildings were quite impressive back then." Ami smiled gently before twisting at a rustle behind them. "GO!" she shrieked as Kenji's stench floated through the air. Naruto leapt into the undergrowth, using his kitsune instincts to guide him. He could still smell Hana and the stench of blood was still hanging in the air. Ami was close behind him, not looking back for fear of what she might see. One thing that worried Ami was the trail of blood left from Naruto's paw, slick over the damp moss of the forest floor. If Naruto had a weak paw, that meant he'd have a weak hand. That could mean the difference between winning a battle and being slaughtered.  
><em>'He'll be fine. It won't affect anything. It's his left paw. His left hand. Naruto's right-handed.'<em> muttered Hoshi.  
><em>'He uses Yoru with his left hand.'<em>  
><em>'He can fight with a sword left-handed?'<em> Hoshi sounded suprised.  
><em>'Hai, Hoshi-chan.'<em> Ami muttered slowly, as though talking to an idiot. _'Naruto-kun fights with his left hand. Like me.'_ Hoshi growled irritably, digging her claws into the ground.  
><em>'I know that. Get back to running. You've slowed down.<em>' Ami grinned and pulled herself back into reality, continuing to race along the small path. It was too small for humans and Kenji's patrol couldn't ambush them from the trees thanks to the network of brambles above the path.  
>"Naruto-kun! Go left!" Ami called. Naruto nodded and turned down an even smaller side-tunnel. The bushes and lattice of brambles either side of them grew in density and Ami felt the blackthorns slicing through her thick fur. "Right!" they turned right and the tunnel widened out. This one had small holes in the roof and Ami could see the blurs of shinobi behind them. "NARUTO-KUN! DOWN!" Ami screeched as a kunai flew through one of the holes, the letter bomb wrapped around the handle beginning to burn down. Ami shoved Naruto down a kitsune-burrow in the side of the tunnel, pushing him down it as fire began to spread down the tunnel. "FASTER!" shrieked Naruto as he felt warmth on his back. He shoved Ami in front of himself, ignoring his tails as the tips were singed by the fire following them. <em>'I hate Katon jutsu...'<em> he muttered to himself.  
><em>'So do I. This isn't a normal explosion-fire.'<em> Kyuubi muttered back, still confused as to why this Kitsune girl had his daughter sealed inside of her.  
>"NARUTO-KUN!" Ami screamed as Naruto began to slow down, the fragile bone of his leg beginning to break again.<br>"Don't worry! I won't die!" Naruto pushed Ami ahead, continuing to run despite the ever-growing prospect of damaging his leg permanently. If he stopped running, he wouldn't have to worry about his leg. Actually, he wouldn't have to worry about anything. He'd be dead.  
><em>'KYUUBI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! HEAL MY LEG!'<em>Naruto screamed at the kitsune, beginning to panic.  
><em>'I'M TRYING!'<em> Kyuubi snarled. Healing tiny parts of the humans that he could kill by flicking his claw wasn't the Kyuubi's speciality. He'd healed a couple of the shards, but Ami's healing hadn't been too successful for all of the bone and the amount of tiny fractures was rather large.  
>"AMI-CHAN! KEEP GOING!" Naruto yelled as Ami turned to see if he was still following. Naruto felt Kyuubi heal part of his leg which had been about to re-shatter that part of the bone.<br>"Naruto-kun!" Ami looked in worry at the dark-red kitsune half-running, half-limping behind her. His azure eyes glittered worry- but it wasn't for himself.  
>"Just go!" Naruto raced forwards and shoved Ami as hard as she could. Naoki, who had been running in front of them both, turned in horror as Naruto turned to face the fire. Naruto's fur stood on end as he saw the blue-ish tinge to the fire. It wouldn't stop. It had chakra keeping it burning as fiercely as though the air was oil. Naruto yelled out a jutsu as the fire hit him and it vanished, leaving behind nothing but the ashes of plants unfortunate enough to get in its way, and, an almost untouched red kitsune. Naruto shook the ashes of his singed fur off his pelt and examined it. There were a few patches of fur that were shorter than normal and a couple of his tails had badly burnt tips, but other than that, Naruto was fine.<br>"Naruto-kun!" Ami gasped in shock.  
>"Come on. Kenji might try it again." Naruto coughed as he breathed in the smoke left behind. He scurried forwards and pushed Ami forwards again.<br>"Why didn't you just do that in the first place?" asked Ami.  
>Naruto let out a sigh of irritation, "It uses a TON of chakra. Do you have any idea how much chakra I've lost since I've been here? I had to take precautions. A few minutes earlier and that would have KILLED me!"<br>"Oh. Good reason! Come on then." Ami began to run up the tunnel, which had begun to slope upwards. Naruto rolled his eyes and raced after her, feeling Kyuubi heal the final shard of bone.  
><em>'That hurt, y'know.'<em> muttered Naruto after the pain in his leg faded.  
><em>'It's not MY fault healing you hurt!<em>' Kyuubi snarled angrily. Naruto laughed and pulled himself from his mindscape as light appeared at the end of the tunnel.

* * *

><p>"Naruto-kun...?" Ami murmured. "I think this is the clearing..."<br>"Really?" Naruto pulled his head from the rabbit hole.  
><em>'Damn rabbits. Damn kitsune instincts...'<em> he muttered as he shook the dirt from his fur.  
><em>'And now you know how I feel about you ignoring every occupied rabbit hole.'<em> Kyuubi smirked as Naruto flicked his ears in irritation.  
>Ami turned and saw Naruto glaring at a tree. "Err... Naruto-kun?" Naruto's ears flicked towards her and he let out an irritated growl, before turning.<br>"So, this is the clearing?"  
>"... Yup." Ami looked at the once perfect green mossy carpet of the clearing. It was now torn in places and had large patches of red-brown moss where blood had been spilt. The stench of blood was almost unbearable and Ami swiftly changed back into a human, desperate to escape the stench of blood and death. Naruto copied her and shuddered as he entered the clearing.<br>"Death. It smells of death." he whispered. Ami nodded quietly and set about searching the clearing. She picked up the kunai lying around on the ground and sealed them away. While the other weapons, such as the short swords, were typical weapons you could get anywhere, to Ami, they were like gold. After living in Misuto Forest for half her life, she had come to collect just about anything she found useful. Sealing scrolls were VERY useful.  
>"A-Ami-chan..." Naruto stammered from the other side of the clearing. Ami twisted around, racing over to Naruto.<br>"O-oh... Oh Kami..." Ami whispered as she saw the body.  
>Naruto had tears running down his cheeks, "Hana-chan! She can't be dead! It's not... It's not FAIR!" he cried angrily. Ami looked away, anger burning in her eyes. Kenji was going to die for this.<br>"I'll kill him!" she snarled. "I'll kill them ALL!"  
>"I'M killing Kenji." snarled Naruto. He smashed a fist into the tree the body was lying against. "I'll kill him in the slowest, most painful way I can think of! HE'LL DIE FOR WHAT HE DID TO HANA-CHAN!"<br>"Naruto-kun!" Ami snarled as Naruto's eyes began to turn red. He blinked, suprised, before his eyes turned back to their normal azure.  
>"He'll die."<br>"I know."  
>Naruto glared up at the sky, silently vowing to destroy anyone who injured a friend of his.<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto. (And I never will)

Yayz! My 10th Chapter! Still keeping my habit of ignoring deadlines! :D

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><p>"Ami-chan! I'm so sorry, we couldn't help Hana! Is she OK?" Rin gasped as Ami summoned her. Ami looked away. "Oh Kami nai..." Rin looked around and saw Naruto kneeling beside the blood-covered body. Hana's long black hair lay over her shoulders and was stiff with dried blood, Naruto had cleaned some of the blood off of Hana's face, but had stopped when he had discovered the gash that had been torn through her throat. Naoki had run off as soon as he had seen the body, promising to return after he'd gathered some kind of herb that was apparently good for sick kitsunes.<br>"Hana-chan..." Naruto whispered, unable to comprehend the anger and terror that were running through his mind. Rin raced over, anger flying through her mind.  
>"She can't be dead!" the kitsune cried. Naruto felt fresh tears fall from his eyes.<br>"She... She's dead... It's all my fault!" Naruto cried.  
>"Naruto, you baka!" snarled Ami. "It's not your fault! Don't blame yourself. If you have to blame someone, blame ME for Kami's sake!" She grabbed a broken kunai and threw it as hard as she could at a tree, it stopped, just before the tree, as a screech of pain flew through the air.<br>"Nani?" Naruto gasped, trying to stand, but his leg gave way and he hit the ground, crying out in agony.  
><em>'Baka!<em>' snarled Kyuubi, _'It's only just healed! Don't try that again!'_  
><em>'In case you hadn't notice, Kyuubi, if I DON'T get up, I might not EVER stand up again!<em>' Naruto hissed at the kitsune. Kyuubi muttered something and Naruto growled, pulling himself from his mindscape.  
>"Ami-chan!" Naruto cried, hoping the girl would know what to do. Ami turned and cried out in horror. She grabbed a kunai and threw it at something above Naruto. He looked up and screamed as a sword came flashing down.<br>"NARUTO-KUN!" Rin leapt up and cried in agony as the sword hit her. She vanished, and Naruto used the distraction to quickly roll away. He placed his hands in a seal and turned back into the nine-tailed kitsune. Ami grinned and did the same, turning to leap into the bushes. She never made it. A sword came out of nowhere and hit Ami's neck with the flat of its blade. There was a sickening crack and Ami collapsed, screeching in agony before she fell unconscious. The jutsu was instantly released and Ami groaned in pain. Naruto tried to cry out in horror, but he could barely make a squeak. He looked around, seeing nothing but the forest. He swiftly released the jutsu and raced across the clearing to grab Ami. Before Naruto could react, Kenji leapt down in front of him. Naruto skidded to a stop and looked around, panicking. He had used up almost all of his chakra stopping the fire. If he used any more, he probably wouldn't be able to move. He made to leap away, but several more shinobi leapt down, and Naruto found himself surrounded.  
>"You don't stand a chance, Uzumaki, just give up." Kenji snarled. Naruto twitched, anger racing through him. He abandoned the part of him saying not to use another jutsu and put his hands in a seal.<br>"As if! Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto snarled, creating several clones. He instantly realised how much he thought these things through as he fell to one knee, gasping for breath. As the clones attacked the shinobi, Naruto threw several kunai with letter bombs on them, into the midst of the battles. After several rather large explosions that had injured Naruto just as much as the other shinobi, Naruto used the chaos to make it to Ami. "Ami-chan!" he whispered, hoping beyond hope that she would wake up. "Ami-chan!"  
>"N-Naruto-kun?" a gentle whisper came from Ami. "Ami-chan! Quick, we have to run now!" Naruto gasped. Ami opened one blue eye and looked at Naruto. She instantly realised what was going on and smiled.<br>"Ie. Leave me. You can go faster by yourself."  
>"I can't! I used most of my chakra distracting them! I only have enough for a... transportation... jutsu..." Naruto slowly began to grin as he realised the potential of the jutsu. "Naruto-kun, I FORBID you from sacrificing yourself to save me!" Ami snarled.<br>"OK, that's the last clone. Ja ne, Ami-chan!" Naruto smiled and muttered a short jutsu. Ami screeched in anger as she began to vanish and Naruto fell onto his side, unconscious.

* * *

><p>"Naoki? Naoki!" two blue eyes slowly opened to stare at the jagged rock above them. 'Am I dead?' the figure rolled over onto it's side and winced as pain ran from the wounds covering it's body. 'I guess not.' "AMI!" a cry of relief came from somewhere behind the girl. The winged kitsune raced forwards and threw himself at Ami.<br>"Err... Naoki?"  
>"I was so sure you would die! They nearly broke your neck! The transportation jutsu wasn't very good either, you could have been badly inj- Ami?" Naoki stopped as he noticed the tears rolling down Ami's cheeks.<br>"They caught him... They caught Naruto-kun and it's all my fault!" she cried. Naoki stepped back.  
>"N-Naruto? I-I thought he... IE! He... He's got to be coming! H-he... Said... he said he'd come! A kage bunshin! He sent a kage bunshin! It said he'd come as soon as possible, that he was just waiting to get... away... He said... you'd be here... Then... he ran out of chakra... 'Cause it vanished..." Naoki stammered. Ami let out another wail.<br>"That was why he distracted them! He KNEW what he was going to do! He sent the kage bunshin to stop you from trying to rescue him! So you'd find me first!" Ami cried out, realising that Naruto had been planning to sacrifice himself from the beginning.  
>"Was there any other option?" asked Naoki.<br>"He could have left me behind... Or he could have taken me with him and had Kenji catch up to him when he was exhausted AND chakra-less." Ami knew that Naruto would have sacrificed himself no matter what. If he'd been given the choice between saving himself or dying to save Ami, he would choose the latter.  
>"You know, for him, that was the best option." Naoki quietly sat beside Ami.<br>"He's a baka. He should have let them take me, saved himself."  
>"AMI! You should at least honour his sacrifice!" Naoki snarled.<br>"IE! He should have run!"  
>"HE WAS REN'S PRISONER MERE DAYS AGO! HE KNEW WHAT WAS COMING! HE KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HIM! HE KNEW THAT, CHANCES WERE, HE'D DIE! Ami, Naruto knew all of this and yet he still sacrificed himself for you. He would have done it for any one of his friends, but he did it for YOU." Naoki bared his teeth at Ami angrily.<br>"I didn't want him to sacrifice himself! He didn't have to!" Ami sobbed.  
>"I KNOW!" Naoki growled. "You might have a chance of saving him. If you use one of us to contact Konoha, they could provide back up for when we attack!"<br>"But I can't. We don't know where Konoha is and Ren has the forest surrounded. He's not a baka. If I'd thought it possible, I would have left as soon as I escaped." Ami muttered.  
>"We can at least try. Send Shou. If he doesn't get through, he can go back. He IS a summon." Naoki looked at Ami, his eyes filled with determination. Ami sighed.<br>"Fine. We'll try. But... Naoki-kun... Kenji'll be at the castle now. I mean... the clearing wasn't far from it."  
>"So? We attack the castle."<br>"DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO NARUTO LAST TIME KONOHA TRIED THAT?" Naoki looked away as Ami snarled in frustration.  
>"Hai, of course I do... But we know what Ren is going to do once he manages to extract Kyuubi and Hoshi."<br>"What? Other than the whole 'take over the five great nations' thing?" Ami asked. Naoki nodded.  
>"You know that neither of you will die when he extracts them. Any other jinchuurki would, but your clans are different. Ren knows that." Naoki watched Ami flinch as he mentioned her clan. "Hoshi-chan healed me, right? I'm fine to go off and attempt to take over a castle?" Ami grinned.<br>"Hai." Naoki smiled as Ami glared at him.  
>"Come on. We can't waste any time. Not while Naruto-kun is Ren's prisoner." Ami murmured, standing up and sheathing her katana, which lay beside her.<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto slowly opened his eyes, knowing exactly where he was. <em>'Nani?<em>' Naruto growled at the unbroken darkness.  
><em>'They've blindfolded you.<em>' muttered Kyuubi.  
><em>'Duh. I'm not a baka, Kyuu.'<em>  
><em>'I beg to differ.'<em>  
><em>'Shut up.'<em> Naruto almost grinned as he felt the now familiar sensation of having his chakra constantly drained. 'I'm doomed.' he sighed.  
><em>'Ami'll try to rescue you.'<em>  
><em>'She'd better not.<em>' muttered Naruto. _'Ren'll easily capture her...'_  
><em>'Ami isn't weak. She could take out Ren- granted she would need a lot of luck to get the chance.<em>' Kyuubi's eyes flashed in irritation at Naruto's thoughts.  
><em>'But I don't WANT her to try! Let Ren kill me, I don't care. As long as I'm protecting Ami-chan and Konoha, I'm happy.'<em> Naruto glared at Kyuubi.  
><em>'Ren won't kill you.'<em>  
><em>'He will! Don't you know what happens to a jinchuuriki when the bijuu is extracted?'<em>  
><em>'YOU won't die. Neither will Ami.'<em>  
><em>'Nani? I won't die?'<em>  
><em>'Kushina didn't. You won't.'<em>  
><em>'And, once again, you have totally destroyed everything I thought I knew.'<em>  
><em>'How many times have I done that?'<em>  
><em>'Can't be bothered to count.'<em> Kyuubi sighed at Naruto's answer and looked away.  
><em>'Ren's coming.'<em>  
><em>'Great.'<em>  
><em>'Ie, really, he's in front of you.'<em>  
><em>'I did hear him.'<em>  
><em>'Well...?'<em>  
><em>'Well what?<em>  
><em>'He's talking to you.'<em>  
><em>'Why didn't you say so?'<em>  
><em>'Because I thought you HEARD him.'<em> Naruto growled irritably as Kyuubi smirked. He sighed and pulled himself from his mindscape.  
>"Are you listening to me?" snarled a voice right next to Naruto's ear. He jumped and tried to get away from the kunai that he could feel at his throat.<br>"Why do you care?" Naruto snarled, grinning as the kunai moved away.  
>"I was saying that you might want to tell us about how Konoha protects itself or we could always kill Ami."<br>"Y-you have Ami-chan?" Naruto stammered, horrified.  
>"We will when she tries to save you."<br>"So she's not here?"  
>"She'll come soon enough." Naruto smirked as he realised that Ren wasn't sure if he would be able to capture Ami.<br>"I won't tell you anything. You should have learnt that last time."  
>"Ah, hai. You seem to protect your friends no matter what, don't you?" Naruto looked away, knowing that Ren would make him suffer soon enough.<br>"Of course I do. What's the point of living if you don't have any friends?" Ren laughed at this and Naruto snarled angrily.  
>"How did I capture you the first time? Didn't I threaten to kill that pink-haired girl if you didn't allow us to capture you?"<br>"You couldn't have beaten me in a fight, coward, you had to threaten Sakura-chan." Naruto let out a quiet cry of pain as Ren stabbed the kunai into his chest.  
>"What was that?" he snarled. Naruto grinned.<br>"You're a coward." Naruto heard the kunai fly down again and he quietly readied himself for the pain.  
>"You're going to regret that." snarled Ren.<br>"I don't care, coward."  
>For the next few hours, screams of pain echoed around the room, broken only by Ren's questions.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

I STILL don't own Naruto. (And I never will.)

...Wow! I actually completed something on time! Sure, I had to write a lot tonight, but I uploaded it on time! Miracles do happen!

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><p>Several days later...<p>

_'Wake up! Come on, Naruto! Don't go and die! Don't give up! Don't let Ren win!'_ the Kyuubi growled at the motionless form of his Jinchuuriki. Even in Naruto's mindscape, the wounds from his torture still tore through him, and the crimson pool on the floor grew with each passing minute. _'Come on! You've never given up! Don't start now!'_  
><em>'If... If I give up now... I won't have another chance... will I?'<em> Naruto's blood-shot eyes weakly flickered open.  
><em>'Good, you're awake. I didn't want to die.'<em> muttered Kyuubi, pretending he hadn't felt any worry for the genin.  
><em>'I reget waking up... It hurts too much...<em>' Naruto closed his eyes again and listened to the silence that hung heavily in the air.  
><em>'Naruto, don't give up. You'll get out. Whether it's by sheer luck, like it ALWAYS is, or, if someone saves you, OR, and this WOULD be a miracle, you get out due to your own skill, you WILL escape. At least you didn't tell Ren anything.'<em>  
><em>'...Thanks for the insults.'<em>  
><em>'You're welcome.'<em>  
><em>'You know I probably won't be able to stand being tortured much more, don't you?'<em> Naruto heard Kyuubi shift uneasily.  
><em>'You will. Just don't... well, break, I guess.'<em>  
><em>'Break?<em>' Naruto twitched as the agony became even more unberable.  
><em>'Give up. See no point in life. Want to die. Don't care who you hurt. Basically, tell Ren everything, just to be free of the pain. You should know what being broken is like.'<em>  
><em>'Oh... Um, that... Never mind. It doesn't matter.'<em> Naruto allowed himself to relax and he slowly became accustomed to the agony that was tearing through him with every breath, every movement, no matter how small. _'If I'm going to die, I'm glad my last actions were protecting my friends.'_ Kyuubi looked at the young boy lying in front of him, gasping in pain every so often, and he felt sympathy wash through him.  
><em>'If you die, you'll be giving up! DON'T give up Naruto. Don't EVER give up.' <em>  
><em>'...you don't want to die, do you?'<em>  
><em>'Not really. But I don't want you to die either.'<em> Naruto let out a quiet laugh, regretting it as more pain than usual hit him. _'Is that because if I die, you die?'_  
><em>'Partly.'<em>  
><em>'Wow. You really don't care about me.'<em>  
><em>'I do. Come on! I made your life a misery around those villagers! Well, when you were younger, anyway... Don't you think I feel guilty about making you go through all of that?'<em>  
><em>'Ie.'<em>  
><em>'You still think I'm some psychotic kitsune demon, don't you?'<em>  
><em>'Pretty much.'<em> Naruto opened one eye and found a rather large, shining claw inches from his face. _'You can't kill me in my mindscape.'_  
><em>'Oh, I can. You'll just come back, so I can repeat the process over, and over, and over...'<em> Kyuubi grinned evily. _'Do you STILL think I'm a psychotic demon?'_  
><em>'You just proved it.'<em> Naruto forced himself to roll onto his back, ignoring the throbs of agony that shuddered through him. _'Am I going to die, Kyuu?_' he asked quietly. The claw that had been about to stab Naruto in the chest shivered slightly and vanished.  
><em>'Ie. I don't think you will. Ren went too far that time. He won't do it again.'<em> Kyuubi shivered as Naruto coughed out blood and groaned in agony.  
><em>'Am I dying? Is this what it's like? I can feel something telling me to let go... There's this... emptiness around me... I feel really cold...'<em> Kyuubi's eyes widened in fear at what Naruto was describing.  
><em>'Naruto, don't let go, or you really will die! Believe me, you don't want to do that just yet! Come on, Naruto! Naruto?<em>' Kyuubi cried out as he saw Naruto fall limp, his breathing becoming slower and slower.  
><em>'Kyuu...'<em> Naruto gasped, his eyes opening slightly. '_Kyuu, everything's fading! I didn't let go! I swear! I don't want to die like this! Kyuu!_' Kyuubi relaxed slightly.  
><em>'Don't worry. You aren't dying. If you didn't let go and you can still feel pain, you aren't dying.'<em>  
><em>'B-but... The pain? I can't... It's fading too!'<em> Naruto's voice grew panicked. Kyuubi's fur bristled in shock. His Jinchuuriki was dying.  
><em>'Naruto! Hang on! Please! Don't die!'<em> Now Kyuubi could feel Death, creeping up behind him slowly. He could feel his limbs growing cold and his eyes growing heavy. _'Naruto!'_  
><em>'Kyuu... What... Ami...? She can't... I can't... I CAN'T DIE HERE! I'M NOT HOKAGE YET!'<em> Naruto cried out as his eyes closed again. Kyuubi forced his eyes open.  
><em>'You're right... You aren't Hokage... yet...'<em> he whispered. '_Ren. He might... save you... He's coming now...'_ Naruto could faintly hear yells and screams of anger.  
>Naruto shook his head and forced his eyes open, seeing his mindscape melt away around him. He was dying. This was it. Naruto could see Kyuubi lying with his head on his paws, watching Naruto. Naruto nodded at him before Kyuubi faded and Naruto felt his senses faded with the kitsune.<br>_'Konohamaru'll become... Hokage for me... If I die...'_ Naruto smiled. _'If I die... I'm glad I protected my friends... I hope... They don't come and join me... Not too soon...'_ Naruto knew by now that he would die here. Everything had gone. The pain, the anger... It had all gone. As his breathing slowly began to fade, Naruto knew that he wasn't going to survive this time. He grinned one last time, then he felt Death rip him from life as he tried to hold on. _'I'm glad I was protecting them...'_

* * *

><p>Ren screamed in anger as he saw Naruto's breathing die away.<br>"HEAL HIM! HEAL HIM NOW! DON'T LET HIM DIE!" he screamed at the medic-nin. They looked at each other, panicked, and Ren knew that in a few minutes, the genin would be gone.  
>"Ren-sama! We'd probably die if we healed him!"<br>"I DON'T CARE! HEAL HIM OR YOU WILL DIE!" Ren snarled. The Medic-nin flinched and raced back over to the group.  
>"Heal him, it doesn't matter if you die! If the gaki dies, we'll ALL die!" He gasped. The medics cried out before they increased the amount of chakra they were using. In no more than a minute, one of them had collapsed, dead, onto the cold stone floor. In five minutes, only nine of the original twenty remained. In ten minutes, there were two left, each ready to collapse at a moment's notice. Suddenly, Naruto gasped and Ren grinned manically. Naruto was going to regret surviving.<p>

* * *

><p><em>'Hoshi! You don't mean...? Please, say you don't!'<em>  
><em>'He's almost dead, Ami. I felt his chakra fade. A minute. He has a minute.'<em> the kitsune whispered in horror.  
><em>'IE! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT! PLEASE! PLEASE! IT CAN'T BE HAPPENING!'<em> Ami cried, falling to her knees and sobbing uncontrollably. _'Please, nai...'_ Ami didn't try to stop herself from hitting the floor, she just let herself fall. _'It's not like I care anymore. Naruto-kun is dead. What's the point?_' she thought as she hit the ground, eyes staring blankly at the panicked face of Naoki.  
>"Ami! What's wrong?" he cried.<br>"He's dying Naoki. Another minute and he'll be dead." "N-n-nani? Ie! He can't die!"  
><em>'AMI! Something's keeping him alive! He hasn't died, but the people keeping him alive are dying. Huh? Ami, my... they... I can't sense them... It's been blocked somehow!'<em> Hoshi's voice grew confused. Ami frowned and looked around in anticipation.  
>"Naoki? Can you hear that? Is it Konoha?"<br>"I don't know..." Naoki's fur stood on end and he crept back, brushing against Ami's tail for reassurance. Ami growled and leapt to a large oak so that her back was pressed against the trunk. She pulled out her katana and raised it into a defensive position.  
>"Come out! I know you're there!" she called. Several shinobi leapt from the trees and Ami relaxed as she saw the symbol for Konoha on their headbands.<br>"Ami?" asked a white-haired man with his face half-covered by a mask.  
>"Hai. You are the back up from Konoha?" the man nodded. "How did you get in? Ren has the forest surrounded and there are plenty of natural genjutsus protecting it anyway."<br>"Hinata." the man replied, seeming to think that this explained it. Ami tilted her head and scanned the shinobi.  
>"Hyuga Hinata?" she asked, looking at the lavender-eyed girl. She nodded nervously.<br>"Do you know how Naruto is? We thought he was dead!" a pink-haired girl cried. Ami flinched and blinked away the film of tears covering her eyes.  
>"He... He might be dead." the group let out cries of disbelief and horror. "He was dying, he had literally seconds left, then Ren's medics tried to save him. I don't know what happened after that, but I'm guessing most of the medics will be dead." Ami saw some of the shinobi relax slightly.<br>"S-so he's NOT dead?" asked the pink-haired girl.  
>"I can't guarantee that. Ren probably went too far when he tortured Naruto-kun."<br>"Naruto-kun can't be dead! He wouldn't have given up! He would NEVER let go!" Hinata cried, forgetting her nervousness for a second.  
>"Nani?" Ami looked confused.<br>"I... I nearly died once... There was something... something telling m-me to g-give up. T-to let go." Hinata stammered.  
>"Sometimes you don't have a choice. You CAN'T keep yourself alive. If you try to hold on, you only prolong your suffering." Ami explained.<br>"Naruto wouldn't let go. You know that, Ami. He'd stay alive as long as possible. Death would have to tear him apart before he came willingly." the white-haired man watched as Ami flinched.  
>"I know that. Naruto-kun sacrificed himself for me. He wouldn't die quietly." Ami laughed and sheathed her katana before twisting around and leaping into the tree.<br>"Ami, you can't just leave!" cried the pink-haired girl. Ami turned and tossed a scroll at their feet.  
>"My plan. You'll realise once you read it. Come on, Naoki-kun." Ami turned to leap away, but the white-haired man leapt into the tree and went to grab her arm.<br>"Ami!"  
>"GET OFF!" Ami snarled, throwing his hand off.<br>"We're about to attack a castle. You need to explain the plan to us and make any changes! We have a Hyuga, a taijutsu specialist, an Inzuka, an Aburame, a Yamanaka..." Kakashi began to list his group's special abilities.  
>"Great. Hang on... Kiba? Inzuka Kiba?" Ami leapt back down from the tree. "I remember you!" Kiba looked up in confusion. "Kitsune Ami? The girl with the kitsune?" Ami nodded to Naoki.<br>"Ami? I... Well, you have ears, a tail, AND I thought you were dead." Kiba smiled and Ami grinned at him.  
>"Well, I don't THINK I'm dead." she laughed. "Matte, THAT'S Akamaru? He's so small!" Ami exclaimed, looking at the dog that Kiba could ride on.<br>"Small!" the pink-haired girl exclaimed. "Kiba can RIDE him!" Ami rubbed the back of her head, laughing.  
>"I guess I'm used to the wolves that are about twice the size of Akamaru-kun." Sakura paled and began to see wolves everywhere. "You are Sakura, right? Naruto mentioned you... I'm not sure when, though."<br>"Hai, I'm Sakura, that's Kiba, that's Hinata, as you know, this is Kakashi-sensei," Sakura pointed at the white-haired man.  
>"Kakashi? Naruto said you were the one who found him after... after Ren..." Ami shook her head and looked back at Sakura as Kakashi looked away sadly.<br>"Uh, Hai, and this is Lee, Lee please don't yell ab-"  
>"THE FLAMES OF YOUTH!" screamed the boy.<br>"I... Mental scars..." Ami's eye twitched.  
>"Moving on... this is Yamanaka Ino," the blonde-haired girl grinned, "Aburame Shino," the boy wearing the large coat nodded, "Nara Shikamaru." the spiky-haired boy nodded, "Akimichi Choji," Ami looked straight at the boy eating a large packet of crisps and he grinned, "and Tenten- you seem to share the same love of sharp pointy things." Sakura laughed nervously as Ami and Tenten both eyed her mischeviously.<br>"And explosions. I like sharp pointy things and explosions." Ami corrected her.  
>"Me too!" Tenten cried and pulled a large scroll out. She unsealed a kunai with the kanji for 'explode' engraved into the blade. "It explodes if you do this!" she threw it at a tree and put her hands in a seal.<br>"IE!" screamed Ami, throwing herself at Tenten. "Do you want to give away our location to Ren's patrols?" she gasped.  
>"Err... not really..." Tenten laughed nervously and Ami pulled the kunai from the tree and tossed it behind her, straight into Tenten's hand.<br>"Kakashi-san, are you going to open the scroll?" Ami asked. Kakashi shook himself and nodded, opening the scroll. Shikamaru looked at it and his eyes widened.  
>"It's the perfect plan! You've covered every possiblity with a minimal amount of shinobi and it could take the castle easily!" he gasped.<br>"Nani? You didn't think I was a baka did you?" Ami grinned, before she sniffed the air and stiffened. "Dammit! Toushiro's coming!" she turned back to the Konoha shinobi. "I'm going to cast a genjutsu. Hide in those bushes and stay perfectly still. Do NOT come out under any circumstances! Not even if I'm about to die or be captured. I'll deal with this." she snarled.  
>"Konoha uses TEAMWORK! We won't-"<br>"Just hide! I can deal with Toushiro. I don't want Ren to know you're here! It would destroy our plan and Naruto would be killed!" Ami snarled. The shinobi nodded. "You too Naoki." hissed Ami. Naoki growled, but backed into the bushes. Ami placed her hands in a seal and murmured a genjutsu that would cause the Konoha shinobi and Naoki to be hidden. No one would be able to sense them unless they killed Ami. Ami swiftly placed her hands in another seal and transformed in a kitsune. She swiftly ran to the tree she had leapt into and sat there nervously, waiting for Toushiro.  
>She didn't have to wait long. The tree above her rustled and Toushiro leapt into the clearing. Ami squeaked and pressed herself back against the tree as though she was afraid of Toushiro. The shinobi grunted irritably and looked around, turning his back on Ami. She grinned and silently released the jutsu, creeping up behind Toushiro with her katana in hand, ready to slit Toushiro's throat.<br>"Don't move or I will kill you." snarled a voice and Ami's eyes widened in horror as she felt the sharp edge of a sword press against her own throat.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. (But I created Ami!)

...Another chapter actually out on time? (Just forget the fact that it's nearly 11pm!) I just like writing action-y chapters!

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><p>"Bunshin?" asked Ami as Toushiro turned, a sly smile on his face.<br>"Of course. Didn't think I'd let my guard down, did you? Kenji warned me you could turn into a kitsune." the Toushiro in front of Ami vanished. Sadly, the one behind her, didn't. "I should have killed him..."  
>"But you didn't. Naruto sacrificed himself for you and now, even though Ren keeps torturing him, he still won't tell us anything. No matter- he'll tell us everything when we threaten you." Toushiro grinned triumphantly.<br>"You didn't think you'd caught me, did you?" Ami laughed.  
>"You can't escape. If you move, you'll slit your own throat."<br>"And you think this is ME because...?"  
>"I was watching. You had no time to use any jutsu." Toushiro sounded a little uncertain now. Ami grinned and placed her hands in a seal. "IE!" screamed Toushiro before Ami exploded.<br>"And now it's YOU who can't escape." Toushiro opened his eyes and found the tip of Ami's katana resting on his throat.  
>"I knew I should have brought backup... Oh well, at least my last act'll get YOU captured." Toushiro placed his hands in a sign and Ami's eyes widened. "Kami!" she snarled, knowing what was going to happen. She swept her katana's blade across, slicing through Toushiro's throat, just as he exploded.<br>_'That was quicker than I expected.' _Ami thought.  
><em>'Louder too.<em>' muttered Hoshi.  
><em>'We'll have to go somewhere else now...'<em>  
><em>'In case you didn't know, someone just blew up in front of you! You're too injured to move fast!'<em>  
><em>'I'm healing! Come ON, Hoshi-chan<em>!' Ami picked herself up and released the genjutsu hiding the Konoha shinobi. "You can come out now!" she called. Kakashi was the first to appear and Ami nodded to him, picking up her katana from where it lay on the ground. She rubbed the blade against the side of her leg and sheathed it, before picking up the kunai Toushiro had dropped. "Ami...? You're wounded. Do you want me to heal that?" Sakura asked. Ami frowned before looking down at herself and realising that she was covered in severe burns.  
>"Oh, it doesn't matter!" she smiled and began to heal it herself. Sakura's eyes widened.<br>"Ami-san, I've seen people with burns that aren't at all life-threatening- like yours- yet they still can't move. You have LIFE-THREATENING burns, yet you just brush them off as though you've just gone and touched a hot oven! Naruto does... that... Ami-san?"  
>"Hai?" Sakura could see the sparks of worry that had flickered into life in Ami's eyes.<br>"Are... are you a Jinchuuriki?" Kakashi flinched and looked up, knowing how Jinchuuriki were treated.  
>"...I am... Please don't treat me like a monster! Please don't! Not after how Konoha treated us!" Ami felt tears of frustration filling her eyes. She knew that she wouldn't be able to take any more of that treatment. Not now. Not after everything that had just happened.<br>"Us?" Sakura looked confused.  
>"Ami-san d-" Kakashi knew what Ami was going to say. He didn't want Sakura knowing exactly how badly her team mate had been treated.<br>"Naruto-kun is a Jinchuuriki. You know that! We were treated almost exactly the same! ...Only, Naruto-kun's treatment was worse..." Sakura had known Naruto was a Jinchuuriki, and she did know the villagers had hated him, but as Ami began to explain exactly how she had been treated and after the 'Naruto-kun's treatment was worse' Sakura began to list the names of those she knew had hated Naruto. Kakashi saw the look on Sakura's face and felt a small wave of sympathy for those on her list.  
>"Can we just go and save Naruto! He might be dying now for all we know!" Tenten cried. "We won't treat you any differently, Ami! Did we treat Naruto any differently?" Ami shook her head and brushed away the tears forming in her eyes.<br>"Ossu! You all know the plan- if you don't, ask Shikamaru. Each of you will have a winged kitsune with you, so use them to send messages if you get into trouble." Ami watched as the winged kitsune dropped from the trees.  
>"When...?" asked Kakashi, shocked.<br>"They were there all along. You didn't think I'd take on Toushiro by myself? I knew about the bunshin before he even entered the clearing!"  
>"You really have grown stronger, eh, Ami-chan?" Kiba grinned and Ami laughed.<br>"Not as much as you all have! It doesn't help that I have no Sensei." She grinned and leapt up into a tree. "Ja ne! I'll meet up with you in Ren's castle after I've freed Naruto-kun, Kakashi, Naoki will be with you." Ami raised a hand before she leapt away.

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><p>"Right... The patrol should have just left... there'll be traps on the walls but I can see them already... All I have to do is walk up the wall. It's too easy." Ami looked around nervously before she raced forwards and up the wall, dodging the traps easily. "It shouldn't be this easy!"<br>"You're right. It shouldn't be." came a voice from the top of the wall. Ami stiffened and looked up, dreading what she would see. Ren stood at the top of the wall with Kenji and two other shinobi either side of him. "And it isn't." Ren grinned manically and Kenji raced down the wall at Ami. She leapt back and flipped off the wall.  
>"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH NARUTO-KUN?" she yelled up at Ren angrily. Ren didn't reply.<br>"Don't kill her, bring her to me once you've finished." he ordered the other two shinobi. They nodded and raced after Kenji.  
>"Why are you so certain that you'll catch me?" asked Ami as she unsheathed her katana. Ren laughed and began to walk away. "Because I've figured out how to unseal the Kyuubi. Say sayonara to Naruto- you won't be seeing him again." Ami's eyes widened in horror.<br>"IE! IE!" she screamed trying desperatly to break away from Kenji. "DON'T YOU DARE!" she screamed. Kenji slashed his sword down and Ami swiftly blocked it with her katana, spinning it around just as fast to catch the other shinobi's swords before they hit her. "NARUTO-KUN!" she cried.  
>"Damare!" snarled Kenji, bringing his sword down again. Ami leapt away from the swords and began to raced towards the wall. Kenji had made one tiny mistake. Ami didn't want to fight. She wanted to get away. Kenji turned in confusion as no attack came from behind him and he saw Ami, already half way up the wall.<br>"Kami!" he hissed, beginning to sprint towards the wall. Ami turned, grinning, and placed her hands in a seal. Kenji leapt back off the wall as it exploded beneath his feet. "Cool! A self-healing wall!" Ami grinned at Kenji as the massive craters left in the hole vanished. Kenji growled irritably as Ami flicked her ears and leapt over the top of the wall.  
>"HURRY UP!" he snarled at the shinobi behind him. They nodded and raced up the wall after Ami. Kenji watched from further behind as they vanished over the top. Then one flew over the edge of the wall and hit the ground beside Kenji with a sickening crack. Kenji took one quick look at him before he raced up the wall, ignoring the cries for help from his dying comrade. He could probably save him, but what was the point? He was a failure. Kenji sneered as the second shinobi stumbled back against the edge of the wall and was sent flying off by Ami's rasengan. She flew back and smashed against the ground with a scream of agony. Another failure. Kenji turned away and focused on the top of the wall. Once he reached the top Kenji instantly drew his sword and looked around. 'Where is she?' he wondered angrily.<br>"Right here, actually." Kenji froze as he heard the voice behind him. "I'll let Naruto-kun kill you. He wanted revenge for Hana's death. So, you just wait here, while I go get him."  
>"Hana? The spy? She was a pathetic opponent. A failure." Kenji laughed and Ami growled angrily.<br>"Talk about Hana like that again and Naruto will have to 'kill' a mangled corpse." she hissed. "She killed some of your shinobi."  
>"They were failures. Barely genin level. They deserved to die for being so weak."<br>"Failures? Kenji, did you ever think ONCE that Hana would be able to take out a genin-level shinobi with no trouble? Train them, THEN send them out! You should have known it was a suicide mission for them!" Ami snarled and Kenji shrugged.  
>"I don't care. They were weak they-" he never finished. Ami wiped the blood off of her katana.<br>"Gomen Naruto-kun. You'll have to kill Ren instead." she whispered as the body fell to the ground.

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><p>Ami raced down yet another long, mossy passge. She hadn't found Naruto yet and the pulses of Kyuubi's chakra were getting stronger by the second.<br>'Hoshi-chan! Where is he?_' she asked the kitsune._  
><em>'I don't know! Something's stopping me from searching for him. But I can feel Tou-san's chakra.'<em>  
><em>'You mean Kyuubi, hai?'<em>  
><em>'Obviously<em>.' Ami grinned and pulled herself back from her mindscape.  
><em>'I don't have very long judging by this chakra<em>.' she thought, panic beginning to creep into her mind, seizing her with its twisted roots of fear.  
>"Ah. I should have known you'd fight Kenji off. You're just too strong." Ami twisted as she heard the voice. "But you're too late. Say sayonara to Ami, Naruto." Ami cried out in horror.<br>"AMI-CHAN!" Naruto's terrified voice echoed around the corridor.  
>"NARUTO-KUN!" Ami screamed. But she knew it was just a jutsu. Naruto couldn't see her, he couldn't hear her, she could only hear him. "NARUTO-KUN! IE!" Ami dropped to her knees as a massive explosion of the Kyuubi's chakra swept through the castle. "Naruto-kun..."<br>_'Ami! He won't die! Ren can't fully release the Kyuubi's chakra. It'll still be... Actually... Never mind. Naruto isn't dead. You can still save him!_' Hoshi's vocie echoed in Ami's mind.  
>'You're right! I can still save him!' Ami stood up and began to race in the direction the chakra-explosion had come from. 'Do you think the others have fought off the guards so we won't be interrupted?'<br>_'Of course! Ami, you should put more trust in others!'_ Hoshi sounded exasperated, but she was secretly relieved that Ami hadn't noticed that she was about to say what happened to Naruto.  
><em>'Uh huh? After living for years in the middle of some forest without anyone else?<em>' Ami grinned turned around a corner, skidding on the mossy floor. 'Ren's so dead.' she thought as she burst through the door at the end of the corridor.  
>"Kon'nichiwa, Ami. Apparently your little friend survived having the Kyuubi's chakra unsealed. It still worked in my favour though. Do you want to see Naruto?" Ren grinned and Ami felt fear grip her. 'What's he done to Naruto-kun?' she thought, terrified. Guilt was pulsing from Hoshi, but Ami ignored it.<br>"Where's Naruto-kun? What have you done to him?" she cried. Ren's grin grew wider.  
>"Naruto, why don't you come out?" he called. Ami flinched and drew back, her instincts telling her to run. To get as far away from here as possible. But she wouldn't. Naruto was here. She had to save him. Two crimson eyes flickered open in the darkness behind Ren and Ami felt a wave of cold run through her. Dread filled her as the shadowy figure behind Ren began to move forwards. 'Please... Please, nai... Kami, nai...' she thought, terror filling her, as the red-eyed figure stepped out into the light.<br>"Naruto-kun..." she whispered as the figure lifted his head.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I never will. (But I DID create Ami!)

Another chapter out on time? I know it's quite short, compared to the rest, so sorry about that! I didn't want to add the next bit onto this chapter! It'd be TOO long if I did!

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><p>"N-Naruto-kun... How...?" Ami stammered. "You- You're..."<br>"A half-demon? That's right, Ami." Ren smirked as Ami let out a choked cry. Naruto's nine kitsune tails waved behind him as he gazed emotionlessly at Ami. Ami growled angrily and raced at Ren, drawing her katana as she did so. She raised the blade, ready to bring it down on Ren, when it was blocked by an ink-black blade.  
>"N-Naruto-kun? What are you doing?" Ami asked, horrified, as she saw that it was Naruto who had blocked her attack.<br>"I don't know why, but he'll obey everything I say. It may be because I can kill him without even trying." Ren grinned triumphantly. "Friend fighting friend. Bring back any memories, Naruto? Ah, he can't remember. I have to thank you, Ami. He sacrificed himself for you, so you gave me the perfect weapon."  
>"A weapon? Is that all he is? Ie. Naruto-kun is a Konoha shinobi. He defeated Pein, he defeated Gaara, he can change anyone he meets. Naruto-kun isn't a weapon. He's the one person who can surpass his Tou-san. The Yondaime Hokage." Ami snarled. Naruto's eyes flickered back to their normal azure and Yoru slipped down as Naruto clutched at his head.<br>"Ah... what hap-" he began, before Ren put his hands in a seal and Naruto cried out in agony as his eyes returned to crimson. Naruto lifted Yoru again and brought it down towards Ami's head.  
>"MATTE!" Ren snarled. Naruto stopped instantly, Yoru shaking slightly in his hand. "I said don't kill her! Capture her, don't kill her!" Naruto nodded slightly and pulled Yoru back, instantly stabbing at Ami's arm. She knocked his blade away and leapt back.<br>"Please, Naruto-kun! I don't want to hurt you!" Ami pleaded. Ren scoffed and Naruto flinched, hesitating for a second before he tried to slice Ami's leg open. "Naruto-kun!" Ami wailed in pain as she dodged his attack. "Please! Don't! Don't give up! You aren't a weapon! You're Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage!" Naruto dropped to his knees, eyes again flickering back to blue.  
>"A-Ami... Run... don't want to hurt you..." he whispered. Ami knelt beside him, ignoring Ren, who was frantically trying to get Naruto back under his control.<br>"It's OK, Naruto-kun. I'll kill Ren and that'll stop this jutsu." Ami whispered. Naruto let out a tiny cry and clutched at his head again as his eyes began to flicker back to crimson.  
>"Ami-chan! RUN!" he cried. Ami quickly leapt up and raced over to Ren, forming a rasengan in her hand as she did so. Ren looked panicked, his hands still in the seal he had used to control Naruto, and Ami could see Naruto still trying to fight it off. But he was losing. She didn't have much time.<br>Ami thrust the rasengan forwards and Ren finally took his hands from the seal, smirking in satisfaction. Ami's eyes filled with horror and she quickly cut off the chakra forming the rasengan as Naruto leapt in its way. She stumbled a little and leapt back, seeing the blood that had appeared on Naruto's chest. Thankfully, she had stopped the rasengan before it had injured Naruto any further than the small gashes he now had.  
>"Damn!" she snarled. "Naruto-kun!" Ren smirked as Ami began to talk, desperatly trying to break the jutsu.<br>"It won't work." he hissed.  
>"How do you know?" snarled Ami.<br>"Because I've put more chakra into the jutsu. It's a lot stronger and I can't even feel him trying to break it." Ren narrowed his eyes as Ami drew her katana again.  
>"Gomen, Naruto-kun." she whispered, bringing her katana down. Naruto growled and Ren smirked.<br>"He's a half-demon, Ami. He can control all of Kyuubi's power." Ren hissed. Ami flinched and leapt back as chakra began to swarm around Naruto.  
>"Oh Kami..." she muttered. "Naruto-kun, please!" Ami cried out as a chakra-claw flew at her. She looked at it and knew that if it hit her, she was dead.<br>"IE!" Ren snarled again. The chakra claw vanished and Naruto cried out in agony, dropping to the ground, clutching at his head again. "I said: no killing, you baka!" Ren hissed. He kicked Naruto and he whimpered in pain.  
>"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Ami screamed angrily, throwing herself at Ren. Naruto quickly leapt up and grabbed Ami's arm, preventing her from moving any further towards Ren. Ami grinned and turned, knocking Naruto to the ground, where she held him down. "NOW!" she yelled. Ren turned in horror as he heard something behind him.<br>"AKI!" he screamed, "AKI! AOI!" Ami frowned in confusion as Ren turned to face the Rasengan. She growled at him and looked around, just as a hand reached from the shadows and grabbed her by the throat. "NARUTO-KUN! NARUTO-KUN, HELP! NA-" Ami cried before she was cut off. The hand tightened it's grip and Ami coughed out blood. The two kage bunshin who had created the rasengan vanished just as the rasengan hit Ren. He was sent flying into a wall, where he dropped to the ground, almost unconscious. There came a scream of agony from behind Ami and she saw Naruto, pinned to the floor by a katana that had been stabbed straight through his chest. A strange boy, about thirteen, stood over him. His hair was a dark navy-blue and his eyes were the crimson of a half-demon's.  
>"Traitor." the boy growled down at Naruto. "Traitor! You could have saved Ren-sama! You tried to resist it! You'll die for that!" Naruto's crimson eyes began to close and he groaned in pain. Naruto forced his eyes open again and Ami grinned at him as she saw they were their normal azure. The boy, who she had guessed was Aoi, glared angrily at her.<br>"Aki, kill her." he snarled. The hand around Ami's throat lifted her up into the air and she kicked at Aki. The girl didn't react, even as her white hair began to turn crimson from the wounds on her head. Aki's hand tightened even more and Ami could see darkness swimming on the edges of her vision.  
>"Naruto-kun..." she gasped out, trying to lift herself up on Aki's arm. <em>'Hoshi-chan... Help Naruto-kun... I don't want him to die!'<em> Ami could just see Naruto's breathing begin to fade.  
><em>'Kyuu, I don't want to die, AGAIN.'<em> Naruto thought angrily.  
><em>'Naruto? I thought you'd been broken when Ren turned you into a half-demon.'<em>  
><em>'Apparently not. And I'm dying. Again. Life just doesn't seem to like me at the moment...'<em>  
><em>'Life's not fair.'<em>  
><em>'Duh. But I don't want Ami-chan to die! Help her, Kyuu! Please!'<em> Naruto begged. Kyuubi's eyes softened and he began to flood Naruto with his chakra.  
><em>'You know how Killer Bee turned into the Hachibi?'<em> Kyuubi asked.  
><em>'Yeah.'<em>  
><em>'Try turning into a kitsune now.'<em> Naruto grinned as he realised what the Kyuubi had done. Ami watched in shock as Kyuubi's chakra enveloped Naruto just as Hoshi's enveloped her. Aki cried out in pain and dropped Ami. She dragged herself quickly over to Naruto, as Aoi cried in agony and raced back from the chakra. Ami carefully grabbed the katana's handle and her eyes widened as she realised that the katana was Yoru. She shook her head and quickly pulled it out of Naruto's chest, before she leapt back from the growing pool of crimson. The wound healed quickly and she sighed in relief as Naruto sat up.  
>"Did Kyuubi tell you what to do?" she yelled above the roaring of the chakra. Naruto nodded and they both put their hands in a seal.<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does, and probably always will.

This is my first time using a few 'different' jutsu. If I made any errors in the spelling or what they do, please say so in a review (if I made a major error somewhere, say so as well!)

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><p>"Kami!" Kakashi gasped as he turned towards the explosion. Two massive kitsunes rose from the rubble, one with nine tails, the other with one, but just as big. He heard a scream of shock and recognised it as Ren's voice. That meant he was still alive. Damn. The nine-tailed kitsune- which reminded him of Kyuubi- staggered to one side, it's azure eyes flickering to the crimson of the normal Kyuubi's.<br>"Naruto-kun!" a whine of fear came from the other kitsune. Kakashi gasped in shock as he realised what had happened.  
>"I-is that Naruto and Ami?" asked Chouji, staring at them in shock. "W-well, I guess so..." Hinata whispered. Suddenly, the nine-tailed kitsune, apparently Naruto, growled and leapt at the other kitsune.<br>"Why is Naruto attacking Ami!" cried Kiba in shock.  
>"Something's not right... his eyes were blue a minute ago. Naruto shouldn't be able to turn into the Kyuubi... But I felt it's chakra a minute ago... Ren must have... Ie... That can't be right... But it's the most likely option... Ren released the Kyuubi!"<p>

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><p>"Naruto-kun!" Ami whined as she saw Naruto's eyes flicker to crimson again. "I thought we'd stopped the jutsu!"<br>"It won't stop until I'm dead." a voice came from below Ami and she growled, trying to smash the tiny shinobi to pieces.  
>"I'LL KILL YOU, REN!" she screamed. "RELEASE NARUTO-KUN NOW!" laughter came from below her and Ami saw Aoi and Aki leaping away with Ren. "YOU WON'T GET AWAY!" she snarled, about to leap after them, when something knocked her over. Ami twisted and leapt at her attacker, about to claw them to shreds when she realised who it was. "Naruto-kun..." Ami shook her head. It wasn't Naruto, not now. He was in there, somewhere, but he wasn't going to be able to stop himself from attacking her. If she didn't fight him and either knock him out or break the jutsu, he was going to get in the way and get himself killed. By her. Ami didn't want that. She'd caused enough deaths. Plus, she could destroy Ren's castle while she was trying to kill him and save Naruto. Ami drew back and flicked her tail, knocking over a tower and blocking Aoi and Aki's path.<br>"Ren-sama, should we join the fight?" Aoi asked.  
>"Ie. Stay here. I want to watch this. If it looks like Naruto is going to lose, I want you to capture both of them. Hopefully, this fight will exhaust them." Ren replied. He watched as Naruto growled at Ami, preparing to leap at her. He could feel Naruto's terror and distress, but he didn't care. He could control Naruto and that was all that mattered. He didn't care that Naruto was using all of his strength trying to break free from the jutsu, he couldn't stop it and it would weaken him so that he would be easier to break later on. Ami tensed and crouched, waiting for Naruto to attack her.<br>"Naruto-kun, don't give up! You never go back on your word, do you? And you promised to never give up!" Ami begged him, but she knew it was useless. Naruto leapt forwards, claws outstretched and ready to rip at Ami. Ami could feel something tugging at her mind and she leapt out of the way as Naruto thudded down on the space she had occupied moments before. Before Naruto could leap at her again, Ami tried to crush the area Ren was in, but she swiftly drew her paw back as pain ran through it. She growled, seeing Aoi and Aki's barrier, before Naruto made to claw at her again. Ami snarled in annoyance and snapped at Naruto, drawing blood. Naruto recoiled and started to build up the Kyuubi's chakra. Ami's eyes widened in fear and she tried to stop Naruto, but he easily knocked her away with his tails. Ami crouched low in the rubble, hoping to use it as a shield when Naruto used whatever jutsu he was trying to use. She began to build up Hoshi's chakra, despite knowing how futile her efforts were. Hoshi was nowhere near Kyuubi's level. Kyuubi was the strongest bijuu! Hoshi wasn't even counted as one! But, Ami knew that the power of your chakra and jutsu was also partly determined by the way you used it. Ren was controlling Naruto's movements. He had no idea of the jutsu Naruto used or how and when he used them. That was probably why Naruto hadn't attacked her with a rasengan. Ren probably knew that he could cause explosions with the Kyuubi's chakra, but he hopefully couldn't use the bijuu's chakra with as much skill as Naruto would have been able to do on his own. Hopefully. Ami swiftly used her chakra to create a small barrier as Naruto stopped building up Kyuubi's chakra. One of his eyes flickered to azure for a second before Ami was blinded by the white light of the explosion. She dug her claws into the ground as wind rushed past her, before she gently opened one eye and found herself looking at a massive pile of rubble. Ami instantly panicked and turned around in her tiny barrier. She couldn't see anything but rubble. If she hadn't had her barrier, she would have been crushed. Ami could now feel the effort of keeping the barrier up draining Hoshi's chakra. She continued to panic, having no idea how she would get out. If she dropped the barrier she would probably be crushed by the sheer force of the rock, but if she didn't do anything, the barrier would drop anyway.  
><em>'Ami, use Kitsune Rasengan to get out!'<em>  
><em>'B-But...'<em>  
><em>'I KNOW you were told by Mayu not to use it like this as you could be injured by the explosion, but it doesn't matter now!'<em>  
><em>'Kaa-san... I...'<em>  
><em>'Mayu wouldn't have wanted you to die like this! Do you want the Kitsune clan to be wiped out because you couldn't disobey your Kaa-san?'<em>  
><em>'Ie... Fine.'<em> Ami began to gather as much of her own chakra as she needed, ignoring her weakening barrier. She felt the rasengan form on the tip of her tail and she thrust it forwards, closing her eyes as she dropped her barrier. There was a loud crack and the pile of rubble exploded. Ami gasped as she emerged from the smoke, shaking the debris from her fur. There was a small scratch along her side from a shard of metal, but she didn't care about that. What she cared about was the screaming kitsune in front of her.  
>"HOW MANY TIMES? DO NOT KILL HER!" Ami heard Ren yell and she growled. Naruto was screaming in pain and gasping for air, cringing in front of the shinobi. Ami leapt at the shinobi, seeing him turn.<br>"You're dead!" she snarled. Ren laughed as Ami rushed towards him.  
>"Aoi, Aki, you can join in now." Ren called. Instantly, two giant wolves appeared either side of Ren. Ami scrambled quickly on the rubble and leapt back, trying not to land in the forest. She didn't want to destroy her forest. Naruto slowly struggled to his feet as Ren released him and he snarled at the wolves angrily. They looked back at Ren before they saw Naruto's eyes flicker back to azure. Ami tilted her head to one side in confusion. She knew Naruto couldn't have broken that jutsu, and she knew Ren wouldn't have released him without a plan.<br>"Naruto-kun?" she called uncertainly. Naruto looked at her and relief filled his eyes. Ami looked at him nervously before she saw him trembling from the effort of standing. Ren had gone too far and Naruto wouldn't be able to fight anymore. Would he? Ami's eyes narrowed as she saw one of the wolves turn to face Naruto. He growled at it and leapt at the wolf, knocking it over. Ami's eyes widened. Naruto shouldn't have been able to do that. Not in his condition. But using ONE explosion shouldn't have done this to Naruto. _'Kami!_' Ami hissed, knowing what had happened.  
>"KAI!" she yelled, finding herself back on top of the pile of rubble she had been trapped in. Across from her, Naruto thrashed his tails from side to side and Ami leapt at him. "I won't hold back, Naruto-kun." she whispered. "But I won't kill you."<br>"Ami-chan." Ami stopped, claws just about to hit Naruto. She froze, hearing the familiar voice. "What are you doing, Ami-chan?" Ami let out a cry of horror. She couldn't fight him. She couldn't fight Naruto. "Why are you trying to kill me? I've already given up." Ami's eyes snapped open. Naruto would never say something like that. She drew back and began to build up Hoshi's chakra again. Ren hissed in annoyance and Naruto leapt at Ami, just as she released that chakra in a whirlwind of fire and small rasengans that built the fire up until it burned as fiercly as though it were a storm. Naruto yelped in pain as it hit him and he was thrown back, staggering to his paws and releasing a jet of water from his mouth that destroyed the flames. Ami didn't wait for him to recover as she released a ball of chakra, throwing it towards Naruto. He tried to dodge it, but it followed him and in the end he was forced to swipe at it with one of his tails. It immediately exploded, blinding them all in a flash of brilliant red light. As Naruto blinked away the red filling his vision, he found Ami leaping straight at him. Naruto instantly used his tails at a shield, wincing as Ami's claws tore into them. He snarled and Ami leapt back as a torrent of wind hit her.  
>"Katon: Karyu endan!" Ami gasped as she heard the jutsu. She KNEW Naruto could only use fuuton! A stream of fire flew at her, swiftly forming into a dragon. Ami leapt back, but the dragon kept following her.<br>"Suiton: Suriyuudan no jutsu!" she cried, sighing in relief as the dragon vanished. "Kaze no yaiba!" she yelled, grinning. The wind was rushing towards Naruto now. He couldn't use a katon jutsu- it would just become stronger and turn on him. Naruto leapt out of the way of the wind blade, only to find another rushing at him. Ami grinned and watched as Naruto dodged the multiple wind blades she was firing at him. Ami knew this was a risk- she was running low on chakra, but she knew Naruto was too. He hadn't had much at the start of the fight- something Ren would find a problem. If he'd allowed Naruto to build up his chakra, Ami knew she wouldn't be able to use this as freely. She and Naruto had about the same level of chakra- but Kyuubi had more than Hoshi. Ren had used most of Kyuubi's with the explosion and Kyuubi hadn't had much to start with, like his Jinchuuriki. Trying to stop yourself dying DID take a lot of chakra. As Ami was firing the wind blades at Naruto, she suddenly realised how Naruto had used the katon jutsu. Sure, he knew a lot of jutsu- didn't use many though- but Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu was beyond him. It was one of REN'S jutsu. Ren could use his jutsu through Naruto. Ren didn't know how to use Kage Bunshin or some of Naruto's 'common' jutsu. Ami grinned in relief. she didn't want to fight thousands of Kyuubi no Kitsune's.  
>"Aoi, Aki, he's about to break free!" the panicked cry came from Ren and Ami's eyes narrowed in confusion.<br>_'Of course! Whenever Ren uses a jutsu it lowers HIS chakra too and keeping Naruto under his control probably takes a LOT of chakra! He's running out and Naruto's mind hasn't weakened at all!'_ she thought.  
><em>'Ami, neither you nor Naruto can stay in these forms much longer. You need to finish this NOW.'<em> Hoshi sounded exhausted and Ami felt sympathy for the kitsune run through her.  
>"Fuuton: Renkudan!" she yelled, twisting and firing the air bullet at Ren's position. Naruto leapt at it, trying to stop it from hitting the pile of rubble, but he hesitated, trying to fight off the urge to protect Ren. Aoi and Aki snarled in anger and swiftly began to create a barrier. The air bullet hit the barrier and there was yet another blinding flash. Ami allowed the light to fade before she realised she was no longer a gigantic kitsune. Neither was Naruto. Hopefully. Well, she couldn't see him anyway. She leapt to the top of the rubble that had once been a tower and surveyed the area. Despite Aoi and Aki's best efforts, her air bullet had partially destroyed their tower. Ami looked around again at the ground, peering closely at the rubble. Suddenly a flash of movement caught her eye. She raced towards it, just as two other figures reached it.<br>_'Ie...'_ Ami thought in horror. One raised a sword and Ami leapt forwards, trying to knock the sword out of Aoi's hand.  
>"NARUTO-KUN, RUN!" Ami screamed.<br>"It's no use." Aoi snarled. "He's unconscious. Only just managed to stay awake long enough to get your attention. Now Ren-sama can break him easily."  
>"NARUTO-KUN IS NOT A TOOL!" Ami screamed angrily. Aoi looked at her and suddenly realised something.<br>"You look a lot like that Kitsune girl I killed." he watched as Ami froze.  
>"Ie... ie..." she began to whisper.<br>"That's right, Ami, I killed Hina. I struck the final blow. Straight through her heart. Quite good aim, seeing as she was already half-dead and struggling as hard as she could. And once Ren-sama is finished with him, I'll do the same to Naruto. You'll get to watch. Would you like that, Kitsune?" Aoi placed his hands in a seal and Ami leapt back. Suddenly, she was frozen to the spot. She could see Aoi approaching a frozen Naruto, sword in hand.  
>"Ami-chan! Ami-chan, help! Why aren't you helping, Ami-chan? You could stop him! Ami-chan! Why are you letting him kill me?" Naruto wailed pitifully.<br>"Ie! Ie!" Ami screamed as Aoi stabbed the sword forwards. Naruto dropped to his knees and fell to the ground, crimson blood pooling around him.  
>"You could have saved me!" Naruto cried before he fell limp. Ami screamed again, rage flying through her. She would kill Aoi. She would kill Aki. She would destroy them. Ami reaching for the strange power she had felt tugging on her mind before. She didn't care what it did, so long as Aoi and Aki died.<br>A strange silver chakra surrounded Ami, glowing brightly.  
><em>'They'll all die!'<em> Ami screamed in her mind.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does. (I DID create Ami, though!)

Sorry I didn't upload anything last week, but I was really busy! I was half-way through this chapter, then I thought that if I was going to upload it late, I might as well write two chapters in one! If I made any mistakes, please say so in a review!

Please review! Constructive cristisism is ALWAYS welcome!

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><p>"Wh-what IS she?" Aoi gasped as he stepped back, away from the glowing silver chakra. Ami grinned, showing sharp fangs. Her fingers were lengthening, curving around and becoming a pearly white. Before long, they were deadly curved claws. Aoi gulped, knowing that the pearly white of Ami's claws would be crimson with blood soon enough. Ami's kitsune tail was slowly turning silver, the tip swiftly becoming a glowing golden patch of fur. Ami's ears were also turning golden, and a strange blue bracelet had appeared on her arm, glowing with the chakra.<br>"A-Ami-chan?" Naruto's weak voice came from the rubble as he slowly pulled himself out, falling back against the stone as he tried to stand. Ami's eyes snapped open and locked on to him. Naruto shivered as he saw the cold indifference in the silver depths of her eyes. "A-Ami-c-chan?" "Stay there or you'll die." Naruto turned back to Aki, who was pointing her katana at his throat.  
>"You stay there and YOU'LL die, sooner or later." he replied, nodding at Ami. Aki laughed and Naruto narrowed his eyes angrily.<br>"Not if I keep you as a hostage."  
>"Coward! You won't even try to fight her!" Naruto snarled.<br>"I think you might want to remember that I can kill you in less than a second."  
>"Ren needs me. You won't." Naruto heard a scream of agony and his head snapped around, staring in shock at the claws that had just ripped their way through Aoi. Aoi grabbed them and pulled himself off the claws, twisting his hand and forcing Ami to twist her arm. Aoi grinned and swiftly kicked upwards, breaking Ami's forearm. Naruto's ears flattened themselves to his head as he heard the sickening crack. Aoi suddenly screamed and tripped falling backwards.<br>"Aoi!" Aki cried, forgetting Naruto and hurrying to help her teammate. Suddenly, she turned, just as Naruto had been about to run. He skidded to a stop as something shifted beneth him, before a huge snow leopard leapt from the rubble below him. It sprang at Naruto, knocking him over, claws digging into his chest. Naruto groaned in pain as he hit the rubble again, the snow leopard snarling in his face. "Don't kill him unless Ren-sama tells you or me to. If I'm defeated or it looks like he's going to be saved, take him to Ren!" Naruto began to struggle, trying desperatly to push the leopard off him, but it snarled and dug it's claws in even further. Naruto cried out in pain and flinched as he heard another scream from Aoi. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help feeling sympathy for the shinobi, even if he WAS the enemy.

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><p>"Aki, don't touch her!" Aoi gasped as Aki reached him. She looked at his leg, which was coated in blood and had been literally ripped to shreds. "Aoi, you're injured. Let me heal your leg!" Aki gasped. Ami growled and leapt at them, causing Aki to cry out in fear and push Aoi out of the way as the claws ripped down the space he had occupied mere seconds ago. Aki swiftly flicked through hand seals and took a deep breath, "Dokugiri!" she cried, blowing out a poisoned mist before she raced over to Aoi and leapt as far away as she could. Ami emerged from the poisoned mist, seemingly unharmed. Aki's eyes widened in horror as Ami grinned again, her crimson eyes flashing brightly for a second before something began to form in her hands. "IE!" Aki screamed as the miniature fire-tornado flew out of Ami's hands and expanded, beginning to suck everything into its fiery depths. Aki felt the wind tugging at her and she scrabbled at the rubble beneath her, before she realised that was being sucked in too. She grabbed Aoi and began to leap away, hearing a screech of pain from her leopard and a scream of terror from Naruto as they both began to fly towards the fiery tornado.<br>"IE! STOP HIM!" Ren's amplified voice came from a tower at the other end of the crater, safely away from the fight. Aki knew she had no choice, she began to run back towards the tornado, before she felt a hand on her shoulder.  
>"Let me do this, Aki." Aki turned and saw Aoi looking at her, his eyes dull with sadness. She knew there was no stopping him, but it wouldn't hurt to try.<br>"Please, Aoi, you'll die!" she begged. Aoi looked at her as though to say: 'But you would if you tried.' Aki felt a single tear roll from her eye as Aoi raced back towards the tornado. He threw himself into the wind, using a jutsu to speed up his progress as he flew towards the tornado.  
>"Suiton: suijinheki!" he cried, creating a wall of water around the outside of the tornado. Aki cried out as she watched him fly through it, into the heart of the tornado, unable to stop himself. Naruto hit the water and began to fall, feeling the burns the tornado had given him cry out in agony as he hit the ground "Ami-chan!" he gasped as he felt himself begin to fall unconscious again.<br>_'I'm so weak! Why am I so weak!'_ he screamed to himself.  
><em>'It's because Ren used up most of our chakra. Just let yourself fall unconscious. I'm sure Ami will stop Aki.<em>' Kyuubi muttered. Naruto sighed.  
><em>'We both know you don't believe that.'<em>  
><em>'Why? Don't you have faith in her?'<em>  
><em>'I DO. You think she'll kill me. Us.'<em>  
><em>'Fine, I do. She can't control herself. It doesn't matter. Just fall unconscious, baka.'<em>  
><em>'I... am not... a baka...'<em> Naruto hissed before he fell unconscious.

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><p>Aki shielded her face as another explosive tornado began to grow. With Ami's jutsu, Aki knew that destroying enemy cities- or even small countries- would be easy. This tornado, however, didn't grow as big as the first one and exploded as soon as it got to a certain size. Aki cried out as she was thrown back, hitting a thick stone slab and coughing out blood. She could see the limp body of Naruto being tossed about and she knew that she would die if she allowed Ami to kill Naruto. But Ren couldn't blame her for not trying to get to him- Ami had just created a wall of tornadoes in between them.<br>_'At this rate she'll kill Uzumaki as well as the rest of us.'_ Aki thought in despair. _'Like she killed Aoi-kun...'_ Aki felt tears began to run down her cheeks and a new determination build up in her. She was alive thanks to Aoi. He had stopped Ami's tornado and prevented them all getting killed. Now she could see that Ami could only use that jutsu once. Suddenly rubble was flying everywhere. Aki let out a scream of agony as something hit her hard over the head and she dropped to the ground, unconscious and nearly dead.  
>Ami's chakra was glowing brighter than ever, a glimmer of light in the devasted area. She was swinging her arm left and right, destroying everything and causing total chaos. For a second Ami seemed to gain control and she looked around the area in horror, before she saw Aki struggle to her feet, and then she was lost again. Ami wasn't technically conscious as she destroyed the area. She didn't know what she was doing- revenge was fueling her attacks.<br>_'Revenge...'_ the thought flickered in Ami's mind a few minutes later and she regained control of herself._ 'Revenge. That's what Naruto-kun is trying to stop. What I'm trying to stop... I have to stop this NOW! I can't do this! I can't have done this! Not out of revenge! Oh Kami, nai!'_ the final tornado slowly faded away and Ami dropped to her knees as she saw the limp bodies lying crushed underneath tons of rubble.  
>"IE! IE!" she gasped, feeling tears pour down her cheeks. She slowly looked up again and saw several figures running towards her from a part of the castle that had been barely touched by her attacks. As they drew nearer, Ami cried out in relief. It was the Konoha patrol. She could see Kiba breaking away from the rest of the group, racing towards her.<br>"AMI!" he yelled. "AMI!"  
>"Stay... stay away, Kiba... I'm a monster..." Ami whispered, shaking slightly. Kiba hurried forwards, placing his hand on her shoulder.<br>"You aren't a monster, Ami, you AREN'T!" he had tears glimmering in his eyes as he saw the broken, dull, look in Ami's eyes.  
>"B-but I did this... I killed them all! It's my fault!" Ami broke down again, sobbing uncontrollably. "It's my fault Naruto-kun is probably dead!"<br>"Naruto? Dead? Ami, he won't be dead, don't worry! Naruto would rather be reduced to a broken, half-dead sobbing mess than die before he becomes Hokage! You don't have to worry about him!" Kiba grinned reassuringly at her and Ami looked up at him, the broken look slowly vanishing from her eyes. She turned and froze, before the broken look returned to her eyes, and Kiba looked with her. He could see a faint smudge of blonde hair, coated in blood on a small body that had been crushed underneath all of the rubble. It was obvious a tower had fallen on top of the shinobi.  
>"Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun!" Ami began to sob, stumbling over to the fallen shinobi. Kiba followed her, carefully beginning to lift the large pieces of stone off of the shinobi as Ami tried desperatly to wake him up. "Please, Naruto-kun! Don't die! Don't die now!" she cried seeing her tears smudging the crimson blood that was plastered all over Naruto's face. His expression had shocked Kiba the most- a mixture of pride, awe, and absolute agony. It was at this moment that the rest of the patrol caught up.<br>"Oh, Kami, nai!" Hinata whispered in horror. Sakura turned and surveyed the area, suddenly spotting a tiny figure moving slowly across the other side of the crater, towards what seemed to be a charred piece of rubble. Sakura motioned at it and Kakashi nodded to her, watching as she raced across the rubble towards the small figure.

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><p>As Sakura grew closer to the figure, she could see that the object she had asumed was rubble, was in fact, the charred body of another shinobi.<br>"Aoi-kun, Aoi-kun!" a faint, mournful groan came from the young figure. Sakura stopped just in front of the person and realised she was one of Ren's kunoichi. "Please, you are a medic, hai? Heal Aoi-kun for me! I'll do anything for you! Anything!" the young girl thrust the body and Sakura and she gently took it, laying Aoi down on the rubble and attempting to heal him, despite the fact that she knew Aoi was dead and there was nothing she could do for him.  
>"G-gomen, he's dead. I can't do anything for h-him..." Sakura whispered. The girl let out a shriek of desperation and mourning.<br>"W-why! Why did he have to sacrifice himself to save us?" she wailed, tears pouring from her eyes. "Why?" she looked at Sakura as though expecting an answer.  
>"Sometimes people would rather die than see their friends or family die. I have a team mate like that. Uzumaki Naruto. He's sacrificed himself for me so many times, and he doesn't give up. I'm sure that's what Aoi was thinking when he died. He wasn't going to give up, let you be injured." Sakura desperatly tried to console the girl and she looked up at Sakura sadly.<br>"I suppose you're right... Aoi-kun never wanted me to be injured, at least not while we weren't under Ren's control. My name's Aki, by the way. Matte, did you say your team mate was Uzumaki?" Aki's eyes suddenly filled with shock.  
>"Hai. I know Ren captured him, but I'm sure he'll forgive you. He's trying to get rid of revenge. He won't hurt you. Come on, I can heal you back with the others. We won't hurt you." Sakura reassured Aki and watched as she carefully picked up Aoi's body and began to walk towards the Konoha shinobi.<br>"Are you coming?" she asked Sakura, looking over her shoulder. "I'm not going to fight you. There's no point. Aoi-kun's dead. There's nothing left for me. I don't have a family and the closest thing I DO have to that is a charred body. I don't care if you kill me. If you're going to, do it now." Aki lifted her head, exposing her throat as though daring Sakura to actually kill her.  
>"Aki-san, I am a medic, not a murderer. I will not kill you, neither will my comrades." Sakura watched Aki lower her head, sighing. "We won't kill you." she repeated, trying to reassure the girl. Aki sighed and looked at Sakura with her dull, broken eyes, as though telling her that it wasn't going to help her feel better.<p>

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><p>"Sakura-chan, who is that?" Lee asked as Sakura lead Aki up to them. Ami looked up and saw Aki, looking at her with wide, fearful eyes. Ami felt even more tears pour down her cheeks. That was how some of the Konoha villagers had looked at her, like she was going to murder them there and then.<br>"Aki-san." Ami nodded to her. Aki shivered slightly and looked down at the charred body in her arms.  
>"Y-you killed h-him... You k-killed A-Aoi-kun..." Aki stammered, her hair falling over her face, hiding her tear streaked cheeks.<br>"Gomen... I don't know what I did... I saw him kill Naruto-kun, then I just... just wanted to destroy... destroy everthing... for hurting... Naruto-kun..." Ami watched as Kiba lifted another piece of rubble from Naruto and he let out a slight gasp. Ami cried out in joy as Naruto's eyes flickered a little. Sakura nodded to Aki and hurried forwards, beginning to heal his more serious wounds. Aki looked away as she saw the stab wounds Aoi had given him- she knew they had been under Ren's control then, but they weren't now, which meant he was either dead, or had used up too much chakra. Sadly, Aki knew that it was probably the latter. Ren wouldn't die that easily.  
>"NARUTO!" Sakura cried as his eyes flickered open, looking at them through tiny slits.<br>"Y-you're... OK?" he whispered. Sakura nodded and Aki knelt beside Ami, watching Naruto quietly.  
>"N-Naruto-san... Gomen... for what we did to you..." she whispered quietly. Naruto looked at her, silent for a moment, before Kiba and Lee lifted a particulary big piece of rubble from his leg and he hissed in pain.<br>"It's... OK... I k-know what i-it's like to b-be controlled... by him..." he grinned and Aki stepped back in suprise.  
>"W-why don't you hate me?" she whispered. "I was the one who nearly killed Ami!" Naruto gazed up at her, his eyes filled with the weariness of someone who has seen things before their time. "I know. B-but Ren w-was controlling y-you. If you h-had done t-that of your o-own f-free will... I w-would n-not be able to f-forgive you so easily." Finally the last piece of rubble was removed from Naruto's legs and Sakura hurried to make sure she healed the crushed bones and deep gouges.<br>"So y-you forgive ME?" Aki's eyes were wide in shock.  
>"Y-you make i-it sound l-like y-you don't WANT m-me to forgive you." Naruto frowned as Aki shuffled slightly.<br>"I don't deserve to be forgiven... Aoi-kun and I were only about seven when we attacked the Kitsune clan and killed at least five members each..." Aki looked down at her feet, "I know Ren was controlling us, but I... I can't forgive myself for that... For taking someone's family away... I know that pain. And I made someone else feel that pain..." Aki slowly turned her head, looking at Ami, eyes filled with sadness.  
>"But that's the point. YOU didn't kill them. Ren did." Ami replied quietly, knowing that she could never blame Aki for her clan's murder. Ren had killed her clan. For that, Ren would pay. Ami felt the determination inside her grow and she knew that when she next faced Ren, he would die.<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I (still) do not own Naruto.

I decided to time-skip to when they got back to Konoha, because I didn't want an entire chapter on walking. Please review! Reviews help me with ideas on what to write next, and how to improve my writing. (But I don't care what a review says so long as it's not a flamer- it's still a review!)

Storylover 2000: Thanks for the review! I'll try to add more description now! I think because I read so much manga, I generally put a lot of speech in my writing and not much desciption. Thanks for pointing out that I use a lot of speech!

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><p>The patrol visibly relaxed as the familiar Konoha gates came in to view. Ami shifted a little, murmuring about the unnatural scents, and Aki stayed tense from where she was standing amongst the shinobi. Naruto's tail flicked side to side impatiently and it was obvious he wanted to run ahead, yet his fear of the villagers' reactions to his demonic appearance kept him back. The two Konoha guards spotted them approaching and sat up, each wanting to catch a glimpse of Naruto, to see if he was OK. Naruto smiled at this- at least he knew that some people cared. He'd have to visit Teuchi and Ayame with Ami- see if they remembered the girl who had used to visit them with Naruto.<br>Standing in the gates were two kunoichi. One was tapping her foot nervously, causing the ground to shake. As soon as the patrol came in to view, the blone-haired kunoichi raced forwards.  
>"NARUTO! Oh Kami, I thought I'd never see you again!" Naruto gasped as Tsunade embraced him. "Don't you EVER and I mean EVER go along with some missing-nin like that! I thought you were dead!" Naruto made a tiny squeaking sound from where he was being crushed and Tsunade quickly dropped him.<br>"I... had to go.." he coughed, trying to get air back in to his crushed lungs. "Or they'd have killed Sakura-chan..." he looked away sadly and Tsunade sighed.  
>"I know, and I know it might happen again, you are a shinobi, after all. It's just that I DO NOT want to get another report saying that you supposedly died. Twice." Tsunade held out a rather large report. "Do you have ANY idea the amount of paperwork that comes with saying that a shinobi has supposedly come back from the dead? And then died again? And THEN come back, AGAIN?"<br>"Paperwork? So, the fact that I'm alive doesn't matter? If I'd stayed dead, that would have been better?" the sparkle in Naruto's eyes betrayed the seriousness of his voice, but Tsunade still felt a little embarrased.  
>"She still hasn't finished the paperwork for your first 'death'" Shizune hissed from behind Tsunade. Tsunade's eye twitched, before her eyes rested on Ami. She looked at the girl's whisker-like scars, then her ears, then her tail.<br>"That's Ami, Baa-chan." Naruto grinned as he saw Tsunade's face. She looked back at him and noticed his own ears and tails.  
>"You'd better have a good explanation for why exactly your student has a tail." Tsunade hissed, glaring at Kakashi. He gazed back at her, sweating in terror.<br>"...Ren?" he whispered, praying that Tsunade wouldn't unleash her famous strength and destroy him.  
>"Ren did this to the two of you?" Tsunade looked back at Ami.<br>"Well, he did it to Naruto-kun. I was a half-demon anyway." Ami replied quietly, Tsunade paled.  
>"Y-you mean to say, Naruto is a half-demon?" the other shinobi looked at each other. Naruto and Kyuubi were not very often thought of as the same thing. Of course a couple of close-minded bakas in the village still believed they were, but now they really WERE partly the same. "...Hai... I am, Baa-chan... I am now actually a demon..." Naruto looked down at the ground quietly, bracing himself for whatever was coming next. What happened next shocked them all.<br>"You ARE NOT a demon, Naruto." Tsunade whispered quietly from where she had hugged him again.  
>"You aren't, Naruto-kun." Hinata agreed quietly, "You are Naruto. The future Hokage. You will never be a demon and I WILL destroy anyone who says you are." Kakashi, Sakura, Ino, Chouji, Tenten and Kiba all looked at Hinata in suprise.<br>"Hinata is right." Shino cut in as they started to question Hinata about WHY- or, in Kiba and Tenten's case, HOW- she was going to destroy civilians.  
>"Naruto is not a demon. You should not be questioning why she would 'destroy' people for saying he is one."<br>"They're both right." Shikamaru muttered, yawning and muttering 'troublesome bakas' under his breath. "Naruto is not, nor will he ever be, a demon." Sakura quickly slapped her hand over Lee's mouth before he had the chance of yell something about the 'Flames of Youth'. This resulted in Lee merely yelling anyway and making exaggerated gestures. Naruto laughed at this as he broke away from Tsunade, before Ami came over to him and looked at the Hokage.  
>"Tsunade-sama...?" she asked quietly, "What happened to the Sandaime?" Naruto looked away guility. He knew he should have told Ami that the Sandaime had died, but he had seemed important to her, and he hadn't wanted to.<br>"Orochimaru... killed Sarutobi-sensei... I didn't realise he was important to you, Ami." Tsunade watched tears well up in Ami's eyes before she blinked them away.  
>"Never mind... Jiji was just the first to accept me..." Tsunade gazed sympathetically at Ami, before she spotted the young white-haired girl standing a little way behind the rest of the patrol.<br>"Who is that, Kakashi?" she asked. Kakashi looked back at Aki and nodded to her. Aki stepped forwards and raised her head, looking directly at Tsunade, who was a little shocked about the girl's crimson eyes.  
>"I am Aki. I was one of Ren's shinobi, but I wasn't one of the ones who just worked for him... Ren controlled Aoi-kun and I, made us do things I'll hate myself for for the rest of my life." Tsunade looked at the young girl, hate rising in her, before she suppressed it, knowing that this girl was not to blame for her actions.<br>"Aki... I've heard of you. You disappeared with this Aoi from a mercenary group. What happened to Aoi, anyway?" Tsunade saw Ami look at the ground, eyes full of shame.  
>"He... He sacrificed himself to save us." Aki whispered, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.<br>"Aoi used a genjutsu on me. I thought he'd killed Naruto-kun. I... I don't know what happened, but I just wanted to destroy everything... I killed Aoi. I killed a lot of Ren's shinobi. And I didn't even know what I was doing." Ami looked up sadly.  
>"You're wrong, Ami." Aki told her quietly. "You didn't kill Aoi. He sacrificed himself stopping a jutsu. You had no control over your actions. I won't blame you." Tsunade looked back and forth between them in suprise.<br>"OK, what happened? I want to know. NOW." Naruto gulped as Tsunade glared at them.  
>"I... I sacrificed myself for Ami-chan. That's how I was captured the second time. When Ami-chan came to save me, Ren tried to extract the Kyuubi. Either something went wrong, or the jutsu was incomplete, but he didn't extract it, he managed to turn me into a half-demon. Something happened and it allowed him to control me. He could have killed me with one small jutsu if he'd wanted to. I don't know much of what happened after that, I only remember fighting Ren every second I could. Then Ami broke the jutsu twice, but on the second time, Ren made it stronger and I can only remember being surrounded by this inescapable darkness..." Naruto shivered. "Then I managed to make myself hesitate instead of help Ren get away from Ami's rasengan. Aoi and Aki showed up then, and Aoi pinned me to the ground by stabbing his sword through my chest. So, that would have been more paperwork, Baa-chan, if I really HAD died. Ami-chan was being strangled by Aki and I didn't want her to die, so I asked Kyuubi for his power. He gave it to me and I somehow transformed into Kyuubi. Ami-chan did the same with Hoshi and then Ren kinda took control of me again and forced us to fight."<br>"Matte... You turned in to KYUUBI?" Tsunade's eyes widened in shock.  
>"Umm... Yeah." Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously as he saw a small crowd begin to watch them. As Tsunade cried 'You turned in to Kyuubi' someone began to mutter, and Naruto could hear what he was saying very clearly.<br>"I knew he was that demon kitsune. Isn't it obvious? He has a tail and ears! He's a demon!" Naruto flinched and his ears drooped sadly and Tsunade looked at him curiously.  
>"Damare, you baka! Of course Naruto isn't a demon! He was captured- didn't you know? I bet his captors did that to him, it's not his fault!" snarled another villager. Naruto smiled a little at that.<br>"Would you like to tell me what just happened?" asked Tsunade quietly. Naruto looked up and realised that everyone was looking at him.  
>"Umm... It was nothing, just remembered something." he quickly told her. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and looked at the small crowd behind her. She saw two villagers having an argument, before a few more joined in all on one villager's side. Then someone else began to support the other villager. Tsunade frowed, especially as she heard Ami growl and saw Naruto flinch occasionally. Then the villagers began to shout.<br>"HE'S NOT A DEMON!" came one yell. Tsunade looked back at Naruto and he looked away quickly.  
>"OF COURSE HE IS! HAVEN'T YOU SEEN HIM? AND THE HOKAGE SAID HE WAS KYUUBI!" yelled another.<br>"SHE SAID HE TURNED IN TO KYUUBI! HE WAS IN CONTROL YOU BAKA! HE WASN'T TAKEN OVER! D'YOU THINK KYUUBI WOULD JUST STAND THERE LISTENING TO ALL THIS? HE'D HAVE KILLED US BY NOW! NARUTO IS NOT KYUUBI!" the villagers yelled back at the two.  
>"Arigato. Some people have sense." Tsunade hissed dangerously as she slowly walked up to the crowd, cracking her knuckles as she did so. "Now which were the two of you who thought that Naruto was a demon? I'd like to have a little chat with you." all of the villagers turned very pale and turned to look at two individuals, who were slowly making their way down the street. As soon as Tsunade looked at them, they raced away as fast as they could. Tsunade looked back at the group and sighed, knowing that the two villagers had gotten away.<br>"It doesn't matter..." Naruto murmured as she walked back up to them.  
>"We'll have a talk about what exactly happened in my office. Hopefully we'll see those two villagers so I can chat with them and express MY point of view." Tsunade smiled and watched as everyone in the group shuddered uneasily. "OK, Naruto, Ami, Aki, Kakashi, you come with me. The rest of you can go now." Tsunade watched them go and as the crowd slowly dispersed, she began to make her way to the Hokage Tower. Naruto's ears were constantly flicking from side to side, as were Ami's and after Kakashi asked them why they were flicking, they merely replied that the variety of sounds in Konoha were varied and without a pattern. As Naruto and Ami were only used to the sounds of the forest, that ran in patterns and could tell you what was happening nearby, the unnatural sounds from Konoha were strange to them.<br>Eventually, Tsunade decided that they might as well run along the rooftops- not only would it be quicker, but Naruto and Ami didn't seem to like the crowded streets. They hopped up onto a roof and began to sprint over the rooftops, Naruto and Ami trying to ignore the tiny pieces of conversations they heard. By the time they reached the Hokage Tower, they had found that most of Konoha's population thought that Ren had done something to Naruto and he was still Konoha's hero; a few thought Kyuubi had taken over and the rest thought he was the demon- though many had thought so before. Tsunade silently slipped up to her office, followed by the small group, though no one noticed Naruto's fearful, haunted eyes, or Ami's tail, that was thrashing from side to side.

"Naruto, I still don't know the full story of how you were captured in the first place. Care to tell us how you got yourself caught?" Tsunade asked, not looking up from where she was glaring at her nemesis- paperwork. Naruto looked down and he calmed himself slowly, trying not to look at the walls of the small room.  
>"I-I was in Training Ground Seven when a kunai hit the ground in front of me... It had a bit of paper tied to the tag, and I thought it was a letter bomb..." Naruto began quietly.<p>

-Flashback-

"Nani?" Naruto carefully lifted his head from where he had thrown himself to the ground. The kunai lay on the ground, tip embedded in the soil, a few metres from him. He slowly inched forwards, wrapping his fingers around the paper and tearing it from the handle. He slowly unfolded the paper and read the little note, crying out in horror as he did so. Someone had captured Sakura, and they would kill her if he didn't go immediately to the forest just outside of Konoha, alone. Naruto stared at the note a little longer, horror still plain in his eyes, before he silently refolded the note and hurried over to the three stumps that were a little way from him. He placed the note on one of them and began to sprint towards the gates, not noticing the shadow that leapt from the trees and destroyed the note before hiding again.

"It'll be fine... Kakashi-sensei said he'd be at the Training Grounds two hours ago, which means he'll find the note in a minute or so and come help..." Naruto murmured as he passed through the gates, nodding to the two chuunin at the gates. He sprinted into the forest and looked around nervously, waiting for something to happen. Almost instantly, several shinobi surrounded him and he tensed, looking around. There was a small rustle and Naruto's head snapped towards it as the shinobi parted and a man stepped into the circle. He seemed oddly familiar, though Naruto couldn't place it and he didn't care if he knew the man. Sakura was pushed forwards and the man held a kunai to her throat.  
>"Ie! Please! Don't hurt Sakura-chan!" Naruto begged as he saw a small trickle of blood come from the kunai.<br>"Don't struggle and come with us." the man hissed. Naruto saw two shinobi behind him unseal some glowing chains from a scroll and he looked at Sakura, agony in his eyes.  
>"Where?"<br>"You don't need to know." the man pressed the kunai harder against Sakura's throat.  
>"Let Sakura-chan go, and I will." Naruto saw Sakura tense and she glared at him.<br>"Naruto, you baka! Don't let them take you!" Sakura snarled before she felt the sharp edge of the kunai dig in to her throat and she looked down at it in fear.  
>"You are in no position to bargain, but I don't need the girl, and there's no point in bringing her along." the man untied Sakura's hands and knocked her unconscious with a single blow. Naruto didn't try to resist as the two shinobi swiftly bound his wrists behind him, not even as agony tore through him.<br>_'Kuso... it's draining my chakra!'_ he thought in horror.  
>The man pushed him forwards and Naruto glaced back at Sakura before he lost sight of her in the trees.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I (still) don't own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto. (But Ami is my OC!)

I am _really _sorry this hasn't been uploaded sooner! I had to find out what a typical Japanese castle-thing and house looked like- and then change the castle a little- and I've been seriously busy with homework and stuff like that! I've probably had my worst case of Writer's Block yet, I finished the chapter, was about to upload it and the internet died. It stayed dead for a couple of days, so I just kept writing. (I don't think the internet likes me.) This chapter is a bit longer than most of the others- double the size of one or two!

I'll try to upload chapters sooner (But don't expect them to be out on a deadline- I never finish things by a deadline.)

Please review!

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><p>Naruto shivered in the snow that was falling thickly around him. He wasn't wearing his jacket- he'd been expecting to be training in Konoha, a place fairly warm at this time of year. He hadn't been expecting to be dragged right out of any nation he knew of and shoved into a blizzard wearing his t-shirt and cut-offs. The chains around his wrists rubbed and their sharp edges didn't help either. He knew he was leaving a trail of blood from them, and he knew that if they rubbed much further they'd reach the veins in his wrists and he'd die of blood loss. The chains stopped even Kyuubi's chakra from reaching him. They had barely stopped walking since they began, and it was quite hard sleeping when you were tied firmly to a tree or rock or whatever had been near their camping area. Plus the fact that the pain from the chakra-draining also kept him awake, Naruto had not slept in the nine days they'd been walking. The man- who he'd now recognised as Ren, the person who'd attacked him and kidnapped someone called Ami- had only ever given him water when they'd stopped to rest- which was about once a day and that was just a mouthful. He had a tiny portion of rice for tea and that was all the food he got to eat. If he tried to escape, he didn't even get that. After the nine days, Naruto had been slowly worn down. He could barely place one foot in front of the other and the fact that he had been slowly turning blue for the past two days meant that Naruto was on the verge of collapsing and giving up. But, he didn't let himself. He wouldn't give up. But he wanted to just lie down, even if that could be counted as giving up. He didn't want to give up, but he wanted to lie down so badly... He couldn't decide which he wanted to do more. Not give up, or just sleep.<br>Finally, a small stone made Naruto's mind up for him. It slipped from underneath his foot and Naruto fell, hitting the hard ground with a thud. He could hear Ren yelling at him to get up, but the voice was distant and muffled. Naruto couldn't see anything, and he couldn't breathe either. Eventually, panicking and gasping for breath, Naruto slipped into unconsciousness, sighing as the warm black blanket descended on him.

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><p>"Gaki, wake up!" a snarl came from somewhere in front of Naruto. The first thing Naruto noticed was the familiar feeling of his chakra, and Kyuubi's- of course- healing his wounds. As soon as his serious wounds were gone, however, his chakra went with them. He slowly allowed one eye to flicker gently open, before something lashed across his back and he let out a screech. "I said, WAKE UP!" the voice came again, followed by another line of fiery pain. Naruto twitched and desperately tried to scramble to his feet, but it was hard. After all, trying to get up from where you are curled up on the ground barely able to move from the cold anyway, was hard; attempting to do so with your hands tied behind your back was literally impossible. But, Naruto tried. What choice did he have? Ren- he guessed- was standing over him, ready to bring the whip-thing back down; his back was going to be one big mess of torn up skin and congealing blood in a minute; and if he stayed here much longer, he'd freeze to death. None of these were very good reasons to stay put. Then again, get up, and he'd be forced to continue walking through knee-high snow; probably tortured when they got to their destination; most likely used against Konoha; and starved to death. Again, these were not very good reasons to get UP.<br>"Ren-sama, do you think he CAN get up? He appears to be trying." Naruto looked up from where he was writhing in the snow and saw a young kunoichi with flowing black hair and vivid emerald eyes, looking down at him with sympathy in her shining eyes. Ren grunted and grabbed a handful of Naruto's hair, dragging him to his feet. Naruto swayed a little, but he managed to stay where he was and thus avoid more pain.  
>"Hana, I think you were right. But never mind, the pain will stop him from falling again." Ren threw the whip at one of the shinobi, who caught it and allowed the thin strip of leather to crack over his head. Naruto began to shake in terror as he saw the metal tip, coated in blood. The shinobi laughed and pretended to throw his arm out, watching as Naruto tried to run back, cowering in the snow.<br>"Toushiro, as amusing as that is, we need to get back to the castle BEFORE Konoha realises what's happened and catches up with us." Toushiro looked at Ren, sighed, and slipped the whip back into his bag. Naruto suddenly realised what he had been doing; angry with himself, he shook his head and straightened his back, determined to show these people that he wouldn't be broken that easily. Ren watched this in amusment and Naruto glared angrily at him- it was almost like Ren thought that Naruto was going to give up easily. As if.

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><p>The shining silver gates swung silently open as Naruto was pushed forwards into the castle. It was warmer here, and it didn't seem to have snowed here for some time, so Naruto knew he wasn't going to freeze to death. Ren had 'accidentally' tripped him up whilst they had been walking, and now Naruto had a badly broken ankle. Of course, this didn't stop him walking, except for the fact that he was in agony if he even tried. Ren didn't care about this and Naruto had not been allowed to stop walking once, being instantly forced to his feet if he fell. Naruto could see the large main building of the castle, with it's typical sloping roofs and tiny slit windows. The massive five-metre thick wall surrounding the castle was a midnight-black, topped with a thick maze of dull, blood-stained iron spikes. The castle itself was not a light colour, as most seemed to be, it was a dull black, matching the walls, no doubt an attempt to hide it amongst the trees and small valley the castle sat in. From the courtyard-like area, Naruto could see the forest stretching from miles, occasinally broken by a sheer cliff or a small hill, but other than that, it was a sea of rustling trees. Naruto felt Ren step forwards, and he instantly occupied himself with examining the uneven cobbled ground. In the middle of the courtyard, directly infront of the castle entrance, was a large fountain with a obsidian statue of a dragon circling a katana in the middle, jets of water- no doubt created with seals- arching from the sides of the fountain to the bottom of the statue, seemingly defying gravity. The water- Naruto noticed with a shiver- was not the normal clear water he generally saw; it was a deep crimson, like the blood he still had dripping from his wrists.<br>Ren pushed Naruto forwards, around the heavily-armed guards who stood along the wall and at the gates, before they came to the massive double-doors that were the entrance to the castle. There was a golden dragon curled around the two doors, but no handle. Ren swiftly bit his thumb and wiped the blood on the crack in between the two doors. They swung open and crashed against the walls with dull thuds, opening the way for the small party. This was where Ren's castle differed from the others. Instead of having a separate building for the dungeons, his were underneath the castle. A long, damp tunnel lead away from the castle to one of the towers at each corner of the wall, and leading off from this tunnel were several corridors. This created a maze of smooth-stone tunnels underneath the ground, like catacombs. One particular tunnel, Naruto noticed after limping down said tunnel for several minutes, had a trail of fresh blood, slick on the damp mossy floor, leading down it. This was very clearly NOT a good sign. Eventually, they reached a dead end. Naruto looked around and almost instantly spotted the small room off to the side, the wall facing them being made up of obsidian-black iron bars. It was a cell, and most likely the one he was going to be imprisoned in.  
>"I hope you like your new home, gaki." Ren snarled, grinning evilly. He nodded; Toushiro and another shinobi instantly leapt into action, grabbing Naruto and dragging him into the cell. Naruto, for the first time, realised he should probably attempt to escape now. During the journey he had been too tired, or in too much agony to attempt to escape. He had struggled feebly at first, but when Ren threatened to send someone back to bring Konohamaru here to kill him, he had stopped, knowing that Ren would not hesitate in carrying out that threat. Naruto kicked out with his uninjured leg, smirking as it knocked Toushiro's legs from beneath him. He knocked the other shinobi away and began to hurry towards the main tunnel, ignoring the immence pain that prevented him from placing his one leg fully on the ground. He heard laughs from behind him, before a hand grabbed his shoulder and a fist connected with the back of his head. Naruto swayed a little, before his legs buckled and the hand let go, allowing him to fall to his knees and then onto his side.<br>"I think he wants another broken bone." Toushiro's angry voice came from behind him. Ren laughed and Naruto braced himself for agony as Ren lifted his leg, bringing it down on Naruto's uninjured leg and snapping the weakened bone easily. Naruto screamed, blinking away the tears in his eyes and biting down on his lip, ignoring the blood which came from beneath his teeth. Ren dragged him up, hissing in irritation as Naruto fell back down, his leg twisted at an awkward angle. He dragged Naruto up again and threw him to Toushiro. Toushiro, none to gently, dragged Naruto into the dark cell and quickly chained him to the wall, ignoring Naruto's cries as he deliberatly tightened the chains around his broken leg to the point where they were drawing blood.  
>Ren laughed again and the small patrol left the room, with Toushiro snarling as he left, "You'd better get used to pain, I'll make sure you're in agony every second you spend here. And that'll be the rest of your life." Naruto's eyes filled with despair as he watched the last shinobi, the one called Hana, leave. He didn't notice Hana's pained look, or the way she stood watching him for a second before leaving.<p>

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><p>-End Flashback-<p>

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><p>Tsunade's eyes were wide with suprise as Naruto finished his story.<br>"Hana? Of course! The Sandaime sent her as a spy! Why isn't she here? Is she still spying?" Tsunade asked quickly. Naruto looked silently at Ami, eyes filled with sadness, before he turned back to Tsunade.  
>"Ha... Hana died. K-Kenji killed her. She was protecting u-us." he whispered quietly. Tsunade looked away, down at her desk- and her dreaded paperwork.<br>"I didn't realise you left the note, Naruto. It wasn't there when I reached the training grounds." Kakashi quickly changed the subject, gazing calmly at Naruto.  
>"They must have destroyed it." Naruto looked at Aki in suprise as she spoke. "Ren destroyed all evidence when he attacked someone or something."<br>"Did he now..." Tsunade frowned down at her desk, eyes filled with anger. "But he didn't destroy the bodies. Or the blood. Do you know HOW we tracked Naruto down?" Aki looked up, confused. "But Ren DID cover any trail that we... they left when they caught Naruto." Naruto's head shot up, ears pricking up in shock.  
>"Y-you... You were there?" he whispered, before his tail started to twitch, eyes filling with hurt. "I remember... You were one of the ones with the chakra-chain things... And the other... the other must have been Aoi..." Ami's ears also pricked at this, and her tail thrashed from side to side angrily.<br>"Actually, you don't know Naruto." Tsunade tried to skate over the Naruto's realisation, as she looked back up at Aki. "If you'd realised that he was in serious pain he shouldn't have been in from whatever you did to him, you'd have noticed." Aki's eyes flickered in shock, before she laughed, "A chakra-trail? He left a chakra trail?"  
>"That's right. I left a chakra trail. You didn't drain my chakra, you sealed it away. It only took a little while for me to find a loophole and use it to leave a trail." Naruto's tail had stopped twitching and Ami's was now merely flicking about irritably. Kakashi looked at them in confusion, before he let out a gasp of shock.<br>"You- your EYES!" he whispered. Ami and Naruto turned to him nervously, Naruto still being scared about the results of his demonic state. "The pupils!" Tsunade got up quickly as she too noticed the change.  
>"Nani? NANI?" Naruto asked, panicking, his ears now flat against his head. Tsunade looked across her desk and pulled out a small mirror that was underneath a pile of paperwork, handing it to Naruto silently. He held it up and cried out in horror, dropping the mirror in shock. Almost instantly, Ami twisted and caught it in the palm of her hand.<br>"After what you've been through, you really shouldn't want seven years of bad luck, Naruto-kun." she grinned, but Naruto didn't grin back. He had covered his eyes with his hands in an attempt to hide them. Tears slowly rolled from beneath his hands, dripping from his chin. "Naruto-kun?"  
>"I- I don't want to b-be a demon!" he sobbed quietly. "T-the villagers... the villagers w-won't a-accept me like t-this! I t-tried to g-gain their trust for a-ages... and now I've l-lost it!" "You AREN'T a demon, Naruto." Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder comfortingly, but drew it back as Naruto squeaked and tensed at the contact, as though he were expecting pain. "Naruto?" Naruto slowly brought his hands down, allowing them to fall limply to his sides. He opened his eyes slowly, the pupils now slits like a kitsune's eyes. Kakashi winced as he saw the fear in Naruto's eyes, knowing that he should have remembered about the torture and pain Ren had inflicted on Naruto and what that was going to have done to him- especially now he was a hanyou.<br>"Naruto, we know something's wrong. You've been tense ever since you came in here. What's the matter?" Tsunade sighed as Naruto held her gaze until she looked away.  
>"The cell was tiny. The tunnels were tiny. After a while, I began to associate small places with pain. I still do. I'm waiting for something to hit me, to hurt me." he replied steadily, "Kyuubi says it's not that weird thing claustrophobia, but it's something like that. No wait... Hai, it's claustrophobia." Naruto grinned as he realised his mistake, rubbing the back of his head.<br>"You baka! Why didn't you say so? We can easily go somewhere else!" Tsunade sighed at Naruto and he continued to gaze at her, not blinking.  
>"I didn't think it was important. I'll have to get over this fear, won't I? Besides, it's only seriously tiny places I'm terrified of. A small room like this... not so much."<br>"But you're still scared. It still worries you, hai, Naruto-kun?" Ami asked quietly. Naruto nodded and blinked in suprise as Aki began to speak again, in a quiet, choked voice.  
>"This is all my fault! I could have stopped Ren coming after you if I'd tried to fight off his control! I could have made him leave you alone!" she wailed. Naruto's tail flicked and his eyes flashed.<br>"It's NOT your fault, Aki. I know what it's like, being controlled. It's like you're just a passenger in your body- someone else is doing everything for you. It HURTS to fight back! You couldn't have! Ren had different ways of controlling me... At first, I was aware of what I was doing, but I couldn't stop it unless I used up almost all of my energy doing so. The other way, I... I was in a cold, dark place. I didn't know anything, other than the fact that I had to fight back or I'd lose myself forever." Naruto shivered, and unconsciously ran his hand over his tail, gripping the tufts of fur at the end with his fist. Naruto's ears had been pricked most of the time he had been in Konoha, but now they were flat against his head.  
>"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine." Naruto's eyes widened in amazement and he turned to look at Ami.<br>"Ami-chan...?"  
>"You sacrificed yourself for me twice, Naruto-kun. You tried to fight off Ren when we were still in the Academy, and then you tried again when you were badly injured and almost out of chakra. If I hadn't been caught, none of this would have happened." Ami's tail was limp, her eyes covered in a film of tears. She blinked, and a tear rolled from each eye.<br>Naruto growled and everyone looked at him in shock. "Why is everyone blaming themselves? It's all in the past now. Let's look ahead, not back."  
>"Naruto, it may be in the past, but the effects are still here and they will not cease to exist if we just look ahead." Kakashi reminded him, gazing evenly at Naruto. Naruto looked away, his kitsune tail waving gently, as though to show he already knew.<br>"As Naruto said, it DOESN'T matter who's fault it is. What matters is how we deal with it now." Tsunade watched Ami shuffle nervously.  
>"Tsunade-sama?" she looked up, her piercing blue eyes directed straight at Tsunade. "The Kitsune Clan... Is our home still there? Only, I know that there would have been enough space for us to all stay there."<br>Tsunade frowned, and thought back, "I know it's still there, but no one has gone in since we realised what happened." she replied after a while.  
>"Oh... eight years, huh?" Ami's ears flickered and she sighed sadly. "Kami... I've been stuck in that forest for eight years..."<br>"We could take you back to the Kitsune village, if you want..." Tsunade offered. Ami's eyes filled with pain and she looked away quietly.  
>"I know where my home is, I... I want to go there on my own... For a few minutes... But Naruto-kun and Aki-chan can come if they want... I don't mind." "If you want to, I'll show you the Kitsune memorial stone after you've seen your home. It's like the KIA one. We got one for the Kitsunes, because... because they protected the village and no one cared. They gave their lives to the village." Kakashi watched tears roll down Ami's cheeks again and she nodded silently.<br>"You can go now. Kakashi will meet you here when you're ready, sayonara." Tsunade watched as Ami, Aki, Naruto and Kakashi left quietly. She looked down at her paperwork; remembered her grief when she had first been brought news of Naruto's death, and began to sob in relief. Naruto was still alive. She could still tell him the secret she had kept from him all these years.

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><p>"Naruto-kun?" Ami silently turned to Naruto as she gazed out over her home.<br>"Hai, Ami-chan?" Naruto smiled at Ami's shocked expression.  
>"It WAS eight years- hai?" Ami didn't notice Aki's nervous look as she shifted away.<br>"Err... Yeah." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, as though he were nervous.  
>"YEARS. It was eight YEARS?"<br>"Hai, Ami-chan. That time didn't suddenly change in the last few seconds."  
>"B-but... This place... It can't have been years... Months, perhaps... Not years..."<br>"Ami-chan, I was captured several months ago. You were captured several YEARS ago." Naruto watched Ami's eyes flicker in realisation and he grinned again.  
>"YOU! YOU'VE been keeping this place clean?" Ami gasped. "Ami-san, I'm going to go and talk to Tsunade-sama. I forgot to mention something important." Aki stammered, and she hurried away before Ami could react. Ami shrugged and began to slowly walk down the cliff-path. Naruto followed her, ignoring the massive drop below them and leaping down the rocks easily.<br>The Kitsune village-compound area was on the very outskirts of Konoha, within the protective barrier, but outside the walls. The Kitsune were very independant and the villagers hated them anyway, so they hadn't wanted to stay in the village. The houses were of a traditional Japanese style, with sloping roofs, tatami floors, shouji screens and even traditional Japanese gardens. Naruto had patched up the shouji walls and they still looked as good as new- no rips or anything of the sort. There was a fine layer of dust over the furniture in the houses, but everything was in the same place as their owners had left them the night they were killed. If a pile of papers had been knocked over in a struggle, they had been neatly stacked and replaced on the table, anything that had been destroyed had been replaced and even the paintings and photos were the same.  
>"I thought I should keep it the same, so that if you ever came back, you'd know where you were. I only knew that you were my first friend, that I'd almost died trying to protect you. I knew you were important to me, and I could remember a little about you, but only as much as I could remember about a passing stranger. So, I thought I'd keep your home tidy, as though everyone had just gone out for a moment and would be back any sec-" Naruto was cut off as Ami threw her arms around him, sobbing into his chest. He silently returned the hug and smiled gently, holding Ami until she pulled away.<br>"Arigato, arigato..." she whispered. Naruto smiled at her again and they continued walking down the white-pebble pathway. All of the village's paths were like this, five centimetre high bamboo fences along the edges and smooth pebbles to walk on. Generally, there was a house on each side, some with the windows open, others with them closed. Occasionally, there was a small patch of emerald-green grass with a few sakura trees spreading their petals around the village, other times there were shallow azure pools that Ami could remember swimming in as a young child. She sighed sadly as she looked around. It was just as she had left it when she had walked home with Naruto on herlast day here. She was tempted to run to the house at the back of the village, throw open the door and yell 'I'm home!'. But she couldn't.  
>"I know what you want to do. But you can't, Ami-chan." Ami jumped- she had forgotten that Naoki was following them at a distance, in case she ran.<br>"I know... I hate it... Why am I the only one? Why can't there be at least one other person? I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Except Ren. That goes without saying." Ami's tail thrashed and her eyes flashed silver for a second.  
>"Ami-chan..." Naruto murmured carefully. Ami sighed and looked towards the house she could just see at the end of the path. Unlike the other houses, the path leading up to the house was lined with sakura trees and deep sapphire pools. Ami let out a quiet cry as she saw the small pot of flowers Hina and Hikari had been arranging for when she got back. The flowers hadn't wilted or grown at all. Ami motioned towards the flowers with her ears. "How did you preserve them?"<br>"At first, I kept them alive, but I knew they'd die, along with other bushes, trees and flowers. I asked Jiji about preserving things and he created a barrier that preserves all plants in here perfectly. The sakura trees still drop their blossoms, but new ones grow instantly. If you knew how many there were to start with and counted them again, you'd find there are exactly the same amount." Naruto explained. Ami smiled and laughed lightly.  
>"Arigato- but I don't now how many blossoms were on those trees in the first place." she slowly stepped into the genkan of the house, looked at the shoes lying about untidily on the shelves and warily stepped up on the first step into her house. She opened the door and looked in, almost crying as she spotted the first room. "Naruto-kun..." she sobbed.<br>The table was set out, as she had known it would be. The mats sat around the table, the bowls that had held ramen still sitting on them. Ami's last memories of here had been eating miso ramen with Naruto. She was going to clear up when she had got back- but there was no need. Not now. The bowls had been scrubbed clean in order to stop any mould forming on the remnants of the ramen. Ami could almost see Mayu- her Kaa-san- tapping her foot impatiently as she scrambled through the door, an hour or so late. But Mayu was dead and gone. Ami was eight years late. A picture still lay on the table where she had left it after showing it to Naruto. It was of her family- kitsunes included- and Naruto laughing after a water fight in the lake outside of the village. They were soaked, but happy and the picture had been taken mere days before the massacre. It was Ami's last photo. The last memories of her family lay within this house and that one, small, insignificant photo.  
>"Ami-chan?" Naruto asked as Ami picked up the bowls and slowly walked towards the kitchen. She turned, and Naruto saw tears rolling from her eyes.<br>"Better late than never, eh, Naruto-kun?" she whispered as she carefully placed them in a cupboard.  
>Naruto picked up the photo and looked at it. "I was always confused as to why your family ever accepted me... Now I know."<br>"It doesn't matter what the village thinks of us. It didn't then and it doesn't now. We were thought of as demons, we are now half-demons. Nothing much changes, does it?" Ami laughed and looked at the photo again. "I didn't think anyone would like me after I turned into a half-demon. Seems I was wrong, doesn't it?" Naruto nodded and allowed his tail to swish proudly.  
>"I don't care what they think. I'll always have a friend, right Ami-chan?" he murmured.<br>"Always." she replied.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does. I did create Ami, though!

Again, sorry this has taken so long! I just had no idea what to write, then I watched the new Naruto movie and got a couple of ideas. This chapter isn't great, but I guess I just think that because there aren't any fights!

Please review!

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><p>Ami kept her eyes closed, smiling at the morning sun as it warmed her face. Her eyes suddenly flew open. Morning sun. She had woken late. She wouldn't be able to move around Misuto Fo- "Yaho, Ami-chan!" Naruto stood in the doorway, grinning as Ami slowly sat up on her futon.<br>"Where... Oh, hai... I forgot..." Ami smiled at Naruto and looked around quietly. Her room wasn't full of random objects she had collected- like Hina's- it was obviously the room of a shinobi. Her futon was in the corner, so that the sun's rays would warm it all day. She had a small table next to the futon with a picture of her family on it and several kunai. Her katana lay in its sheath on the wooden floor beside her bed, and her scrolls sat on the dresser, the drawers of which were filled with her old clothes. None fitted her. Well, they wouldn't. She had been seven when she wore them last. She was fifteen now. She had several shelves on the wall opposite her futon, each holding either books, scrolls or weapons. She had a couple of kitsune pictures on the walls and one side of her room was taken up with her three armchairs and neat piles of books. Naoki was sleeping on his pillow which lay beside the door. Ami's room wasn't big- it was only about five metres wide- but it was big enough for her.  
>"Hey, Ami-chan, are you OK?" Naruto asked, eyes filled with worry.<br>"I'm fine! Don't worry, Naruto-kun!" Ami laughed and Naruto grinned at her. He'd spent the night in the guest room as he hadn't wanted to go back to Konoha. Ami couldn't blame him. She didn't want to. And Naruto was scared about people's reactions to him a lot more than she was.  
>"D'you want to see the memorial stone today?" Naruto asked, yawning and rubbing his eyes tiredly. Ami sighed quietly and Naruto's eyes instantly filled with worry again. "Gomen, I didn't mean to upset you!"<br>"It's OK. But I think we should probably have something to eat first. And we need to get new clothes. I REFUSE to go around Konoha in blood-stained clothes. And you aren't going around Konoha like that, Naruto." Ami smiled as Naruto looked down at himself.  
>"Oh... yeah..." Naruto's t-shirt was almost falling apart, his cut-offs were still pretty much intact, but they were covered in dried blood, and his ear and tail fur was caked in mud and blood. "But I wanted to go to Ichirakus!" he complained, pouting. Ami laughed and got up, shaking her blanket off herself.<br>"You wanted to go and meet Teuchi and Ayame looking like something that's just been mauled by wolves?" she asked.  
>"Good point." Naruto stopped pouting and sighed. "But we don't HAVE anything to wear in Konoha. And the Kitsune compound doesn't have a clothes shop." Ami grinned, reaching for a kunai, and Naruto backed away from her slowly. "What're you thinking? Please don't skin me alive!" he let out a shriek and raced off down the corridor as Ami leapt at him, a kunai in her hand.<br>"Oh come ON, Naruto-kun! I wouldn't skin you alive! Not here anyway. That'd be too messy." Ami called after him.  
>"Oh, that makes me feel so much better. Y'know what? I think I'll just spend the rest of my life in your home." a sarcastic mutter came from the kitchen.<br>"I heard that!"  
>"Oh Kami... I wonder if she'll notice me running off if I transform into a kitsune? Are there yokai around here?" another barely audible murmur came.<br>"Heard that too!"  
>"Kuso." this time Naruto didn't even try to keep his voice quiet. Ami put her kunai back on the table and strolled happily into the kitchen. Naruto was pressed back against the far wall, a frying pan in his hands.<br>"Ooh... I'll never be able to beat someone with a frying pan!" Ami laughed and Naruto glared at her, putting the frying pan down.  
>"You weren't REALLY going to skin me, were you?" he asked cautiously, hand still on the frying pan's handle.<br>"Of course not! The other houses have clothes that'll fit us. Plus, we have ramen here." Naruto sighed in relief and looked at her again, eyes filled with irritation.  
>"You know, if I hadn't moved, you WOULD have hit me with that kunai." Ami rolled her eyes and angled her ears towards the door, signalling for Naruto to follow her out of the house.<p>

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><p>Soon they were at another Kitsune house and Ami slid the door open, hurrying in. She quickly began to look through a wardrobe and pulled out two dark red t-shirts with the Kitsune symbol on them (An eye with a slitted pupil) and a couple of pairs of black shorts. She tossed a t-shirt and one pair of shorts to Naruto, before pushing him out of the room.<br>"Go get changed somewhere else." she called. "If you do ANYTHING that irritates me, I WILL skin you alive." she heard a gulp from behind the shouji wall and Ami knew that Naruto had got the message. "I'll meet you outside." a quiet 'OK' came from behind the wall, followed by the sound of someone sprinting as fast as they could up the corridor. Ami grinned and walked into the small bathroom, slipping a kunai into her hand as she did so.

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><p>"Naruto? NARUTO?" at least forty minutes had passed since Naruto had run up the corridor, and Ami knew that since she, a girl, had taken only half that time to wash all the blood and grime off herself, AND it was her first proper bath in several years, Naruto shouldn't take longer then her. "NARUTO!" she yelled again. "NARUTO, WHERE ARE YOU?" Ami looked back and forth nervously, realising that something might be wrong. She sighed and looked around the house's flowerbeds, her eyes freezing on a spot where the flowers had been crushed. Neither she nor Naruto had stood there, Naoki was in Konoha and there were no animals around here- not that she could smell, anyway. Ami quietly moved over to the spot and peered at it, noting the shape, before she turned and raced back into the house. "NARUTO!"<p>

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><p>Ami turned the corner and tripped, cursing as she fell face first and skidded along the smooth wooden floor. She twisted around and stood up, being an expert on floor-sliding, she knew how to control herself. She and the other Kitsune children had always had races up and down the long wooden corridors of their homes- especially after they'd been polished. Ami growled as she saw the tripwire that had been stretched across the corridor and looked down at the other end. Anyone who'd tripped and couldn't control themselves would have hit the solid wooden wall at the end of the corridor at a high speed- Ami knew that this particular corridor was on a slight slant, as this had always been their best sliding area. She quickly hurried over to the wall and looked at it nervously, almost crying out as she saw a smear of blood on it. Ami turned her head to the right, peering down the next corridor. Her ears flattened themselves to her head as she stalked down the corridor, tail flicking from side to side angrily.<br>Naruto was curled up at the far end of the corridor, shaking in terror, and Ami could smell the lingering scents of two civilians.  
>"I-Ie... I-I-Ie! G-go... g-go a-away!" Naruto whimpered as she slowly walked up to him.<br>"Naruto-kun? Naruto-kun, are you OK?" Ami murmured gently, carefully reaching out a hand. Naruto knocked it away, his head flying up.  
>"G-GO AW- A-Ami-chan?" Naruto's eyes widened in shock and his head fell back down to the floor. "A-are they g-gone?"<br>"Who?" Ami asked quietly, already aware of the answer.  
>"The t-two ci-civilians."<br>"They're gone. Naruto-kun, what did they do to you? Tell me, I'll smash them into pulp as soon as I see them." Ami's eyes flashed silver and Naruto knew she wasn't joking.  
>"Don't, Ami-chan."<br>"Naruto-kun, they've hurt you!" Ami hissed, pointing at the bruises that were beginning to form all over Naruto. "They could have killed you with that tripwire!"  
>"I know..."<br>"Why, Naruto-kun? Why do you want to protect them? You've just been through hell, why are you protecting the people who want to force you back there?" Ami growled angrily and Naruto looked away, his ears flicking nervously.  
>"I... If I'm going to be Hokage, I can't hurt people..." he replied quietly.<br>"BAKA!" Ami screeched so loudly that Naruto quickly covered his ears. "YOU, NARUTO-KUN, ARE THE BIGGEST BAKA I'VE EVER KNOWN. Except Sasuke, but never mind him. If you're going to be Hokage, and these people keep trying to hurt you, not standing up to them isn't going to help at all. They'll think you're weak and keep hurting you." Naruto glared at her irritably. "So what did YOU do? You said they treated YOU that way."  
>"Yeah... if you don't like hurting people..." Ami laughed nervously, picturing the people she had smashed into a pulp.<br>"Ie. Go on, what did you do, Ami-chan?" Naruto grinned and his eyes narrowed as he saw Ami's tail flick in nervousness.  
>"I... Err... Crushed them?"<br>"Literally?" Naruto's eyes widened again.  
>"Not literally. Ie, I just smashed them into pulps and told them that if they tried it again... umm..." Ami laughed and Naruto raised and eyebrow, flicking his ears impatiently. "They... I'd destroy them?"<br>"You didn't say it exactly like that, did you?" Naruto sighed and quietly stood, wincing at the pain from the wounds the two civilians had given him.  
>"Of course not. But you don't need to know my EXACT words."<br>"Why didn't you want to tell me that?"  
>"Look, baka, something like that seems a lot more gory when you've actually seen it. Not when you SAY it. And believe me, it was gory. Well... We might as well go to Ichiraku's now." Ami looked at Naruto, eyeing his bruises. "Are those gonna heal now? Or do we have to wait a while and go to Ichiraku's later?" Ami laughed as Naruto's eyes widened.<br>"IE! We'll go to Ichiraku's now!"  
>"Not with those bruises you won't. You are literally purple. D'you think Teuchi-san wants to see you like that? And what happens if your friends see you? Are you ready to answer awkward questions about that attack just now?" Ami asked, eyes narrowing. She saw Naruto think about it for a second, before he literally screamed at Kyuubi to heal the bruises faster. Ami laughed as every bruise literally vanished before her eyes and Naruto stood up, pale. He shivered before lurching to one side and catching himself on the wall. "Naruto-kun, are you OK?" Ami's eyes filled with concern.<br>"Kyuubi... didn't like me yelling at him..." Naruto grinned weakly and pushed himself off the wall. He swayed a little, but managed to stay upright this time and followed Ami down the corridor.  
>"Naruto-kun, do you know where Aki is?" Ami asked, "I haven't seen her since she left yesterday."<br>"Oh, she sent a note saying she was staying with an old friend in Konoha. Something to do with her parents." Naruto fumbled about in his pocket before producing a slightly crumpled note. He handed it to Ami and watched as she read it quickly.  
>"Ah... Aki's parents are going to meet her here in two days... I wonder how that'll go?" Ami murmured half to herself. "Especially after they see US."<br>"Nani? We're going to meet them?" Naruto asked, instantly panicking.  
>"Of course. We're Aki's friends. We know what its like- meeting people after years apart." Ami gave Naruto a strange look. "I thought I'd killed you- don't you think I was surprised to see you get chased by bears through Misuto Forest? I didn't think it was you, until you told me who you were. Then, I wondered if you'd remember me. You didn't, and I just assumed you'd all forgotten the young Kitsune girl, or thought me dead. I just... just decided to treat you like I'd never met you. It hurt, but I thought you had never cared to think about me after I'd been captured. We BOTH know what it's like meeting someone special to you after years and years- thought it took you a while to figure out who I was." Ami laughed at Naruto's irritated face.<br>"It's not MY fault I'd been under some kind of memory-erasing jutsu half my life!" he muttered.  
>"Let's go, Naruto. Do you WANT Miso ramen or not? I do. It's my first time in years." Naruto's eyes widened as he remembered Ami hadn't eaten ramen in years, before he grabbed her arm and began to race to Konoha.<br>"You have to try the Miso ramen! It's delicious!" Ami rolled her eyes and tried to keep up with Naruto as he began to start a one-sided conversation about ramen.

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><p>"And we're HERE!" Naruto exclaimed.<br>"Nani?" Ami looked around in suprise. "How did we get here so fast?"  
>"I don't know... I guess I just went really fast!" Naruto grinned as Ami rolled her eyes and raced into Ichiraku's, ignoring some of the hatefilled glances directed at him. Ami stepped in more slowly, smiling as she saw Naruto drooling over a large bowl of ramen.<br>"We kept some ready for when you got back, Naruto-kun." Teuchi grinned as Naruto muttered a quick 'itadakimasu' and began to stuff the ramen into his mouth as fast as possible.  
>"Ohayo gosimasu!" Ami called as she entered. Teuchi looked up at her, his eyes flicking from her tail and ears, to the whisker-marks on her cheeks.<br>"That's Ami! She's the Kitsune heiress!" Naruto mumbled through a mouth of noodles. Teuchi's eyes widened in shock and he stared at Ami in shock.  
>"Kami! You're that little Kitsune girl who used to come here with Naruto! Ami-chan, it's good to see you again! Your favorite was also Miso ramen, if I remember correctly?" Teuchi grinned as Ami nodded quickly and literally leapt onto a stool. Soon, she too was drooling over a massive bowl of Miso Ramen.<br>"I missed ramen so much!" she cried, before beginning to clean out the bowl in a speed that rivalled Naruto's. It didn't take long for the two to eat at least ten bowls of ramen each, and they seemed to be having a contest over who could eat a bowl the fastest. Teuchi and Ayame watched in awe as the pair cleaned out bowl after bowl of ramen, beginning to wonder if they'd have to close early due to having no more ramen.  
>"Um... Ami-san? That's your thirtieth bowl- are you sure you can eat any more?" Ayame asked, paling as Ami ordered another bowl of miso ramen.<br>"Thirtieth! Hah! See- I told you I'd beaten you, Naruto-kun!" Ami laughed and Naruto grumbled irritably.  
>"Uh... Neither of you said anything. You can't have told him that, Ami-chan." Teuchi laughed nervously. Ami frowned.<br>"I could swear we were both arguing that whole time... But, then we were eating that ramen the entire time... How did we argue? Was it all in my head? Am I going insane?" Ami wondered aloud.  
>"You can't have been. I was part of that argument. I remember it." Naruto replied.<br>"Hang on, I'm going to try something." Ami turned away from Naruto and grinned, before thinking 'Naruto is a baka.'  
>"HEY! I am so not a baka!" Naruto cried indignatly. Ami frowned and looked at Teuchi and Ayame.<br>"I didn't say anything, did I?" she asked. Teuchi shook his head. Ayame was having a hard time closing her mouth. "I'm gonna try something else." Ami quickly slipped into her mindscape, jumping as she found herself face to face with Hoshi.  
><em>'What the...?'<em> she thought.  
><em>'AMI! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?'<em> Hoshi screeched. Ami shrugged and Hoshi bared her teeth. _'YOU'VE GONE AND DEVELOPED A MENTAL LINK WITH THAT BAKA NARUTO!'_  
><em>'Hey! One, Naruto-kun is not a baka... generally... and two: what's a mental link?'<em> Ami leapt back as Hoshi sighed and nearly knocked her over.  
><em>'You two have become so close, that you've developed a link between your minds. What you think, Naruto can hear. With training, you can close the link, but it's always going to be there now, now matter how far apart you are. It's part of your demonic blood and the connection between Kyuubi and I.'<em> Hoshi explained.  
><em>'Then it's not a bad thing to have. If we go on missions together, we can find each other no matter what!'<em> Ami smiled.  
><em>'You don't understand- you'll feel Naruto's emotions and pain if you can't block them out. Your minds are partly the same entitiy, no longer two completely seperate, different, things.'<em>  
><em>'So? It means Naruto-kun and I'll be able to be in two places at once!'<em>  
><em>'I know it could be a good thing to have, but Ami, Naruto is so different from you! If you end up in a blind rage, so will he, and he can't control the Kyuubi, so he might go as far as too release him!'<em>  
><em>'Naruto won't. I can already control the link- Naruto can't hear this.'<em> Ami watched Hoshi's eyes widen in surprise.  
><em>'Then let him hear. He has to know this.'<em> Ami sighed and dropped the mental barrier, being instantly assulted by a large amount of jabbering thoughts, all coming from Naruto. Most of them were serious, the others not so much, mainly about ramen and beating Ami in the ramen competition.  
><em>'NARUTO-KUN! SHUT UP!'<em> Ami screamed. Instantly, the thoughts died away, Ami's eyes widening as she realised the control Naruto had over them.  
><em>'Err... Did you just hear ALL those thoughts?'<em> a ghostly figure of Naruto slowly appeared, grinning nervously. Ami's jaw dropped as she looked at Naruto, trying to ignore the headache that was slowly coming to her head.  
><em>'Pretty much. You're insane, y'know that? Hoshi-chan has something to tell you, if you'll listen.'<em> Naruto rolled his eyes.  
><em>'Arigato. So... Is it about the mental link? 'cause I happen to have a giant kitsune in my head too, and he's explained it to me. That's kinda why I'm gonna say: I can control it.'<em> Hoshi growled irritably at Naruto's description of her as a giant kitsune. 'Listen, gaki, I can kill you here and now and I-'  
><em>'Kyuubi already explained the whole concept of being killed in your mindscape. You just come back. Besides, I'm just a thought. You can't hurt a thought.'<em> Naruto grinned, remembering the insane kitsune's 'but you'll come back so I can kill you again, and again' speech.  
>'Fine I can't kill you NOW, but I could take over Ami and kill you then.'<br>Laughing, Naruto looked up at her, _'You can't, and you know it.' _  
><em>'Actually, Naruto-kun, she probably could. My seal's not that stable, what with me being a half-demon and all that. I can supress her... But if I didn't MIND her getting out...'<em> Ami's eyes glinted mischeviously and Naruto gulped, looking up at the snarling Hoshi, eyes filled with fear.  
>'<em>So, Hoshi-sama, no hard feelings, right?'<em> Naruto squeaked. _'Matte- I'm a hanyou too. Does that mean... mean MY seal's not stable?'_ Naruto's eyes filled with terror.  
><em>'Ie! The Yondaime used a different seal to mine. Mine's DESIGNED to do that. The idea is that we'll have learnt to supress the demon, and gained control over it, by the time we become a hanyou.<em>'  
>A hand suddenly waved in front of Naruto's eyes and he cried out in fear, raising an arm as though to stop someone from hitting him. The hand quickly vanished, just as the thought-Naruto vanished from Ami's mindscape. Ami quickly followed him, ignoring Hoshi's angry mutters.<br>It was Kakashi. Naoki had found Kakashi and had found them at Ichiraku's, staring blankly at the wall.  
>"Kakashi-san!" Ami cried in horror as she realised what Kakashi had done. Naruto's breathing had turned quick and shallow, his eyes flicking in fear, the pupils tiny slits. "He's just been att-" she quickly cut off the sentence as Teuchi and Ayame let out exclamations of anger.<br>"Attacked? They attacked him again?" Teuchi snarled angrily. Ami sighed, knowing she had to reply, and it would be no good lying. "Hai. Two civilians broke into the house we were in and attacked Naruto-kun. They set up a trap that could have been lethal, and nearly was for him. I saw the blood. The attack didn't just hurt Naruto-kun physically. It's because he's a half-demon. Like me."  
>"A half-demon? Naruto-kun, you're really a half-demon?" Teuchi looked at Naruto in shock. Ami quickly murmured something to Naruto and his eyes lost their lost look.<br>"Nani? Gomen, did you say something?" he asked, voice a little too quick and panicky.  
>"You're a half-demon." Teuchi whispered. It wasn't a question. Naruto's head dropped and he nodded slowly. Teuchi smiled and looked at him, Naruto frowned nervously.<br>"Nani?" he asked.  
>Teuchi grinned again and gestured outside. "You're not a demon. They might say you are, but you're not. Even if they back it up with the fact that you have demonic blood, you're not a demon. You're a HALF-demon. Though that doesn't matter. You don't act like one, you're not one. There are plenty of demons in human form, I know that much. You're a human in demon form, Naruto-kun."<br>Ami's eyes widened as she realised what Teuchi had said. Far from the angry accusations she'd been dreading, Teuchi was pointing out that Naruto was still not actually a demon.  
>"So... you two ready to go see the stone? Not going to have any more panic attacks, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, still reading his book, though he hadn't turned a page since waving his hand in front of Naruto's face.<br>"Can't guarantee that, Sensei, but, I'll be fine." Naruto laughed and smiled at Teuchi. "Arigato, Teuchi-san." Ami watched the exchange, smiling. Her mind was filled with panicky thoughts.  
><em>'What will it be like? What if I can't take it? Why am I thinking this? I've waited years and years to meet my family! This is the closest...<em>' Ami's thoughts trailed off as she realised that she wasn't going to meet her family. She was going to see the proof that they were dead. That that one night, eight years ago, was the last time they saw her and she saw them. For eight years she had clung to the hope that she'd see her family again, see Hina, a genin, perhaps a chuunin, see her Kaa-san and Tou-san, and Naruto. The last name came as a suprise and Ami smiled at it. There was one family member she had left. Then Ami remember what she had used to call Naruto, before that night.  
>"Aniki." she whispered.<p> 


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does.

I had no idea what I was going to write for this chapter at first, so sorry it's taken so long for me to write this! I've also been writing my own original story, so I may take longer to update this one.

If I've made a mistake with the Aniki and Aneki thing, please say so! I'm not used to using them at the moment, so if I have made a mistake, sorry!

Nxkris- Thanks for the review! Naruto is going to stop the civilians at some point, but he won't want to do anything to hurt people- even them- for a while.

Please review!

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><p>"What was that, Ami-chan?" Naruto asked, shock and confusion in his eyes. His ears were twitching nervously and Ami could see that Naruto's tail had literally frozen from where it had been flicking in happiness.<p>

"I... I..." Ami whispered, ignoring the fact that everything had faded, leaving them on their own. _'Aniki... I said Aniki...'_ she gasped in shock at the thought and silently cursed, remembering the link.

_'You called me... I... I... Ami-chan, I remember...'_ the thought-Naruto appeared, but they weren't in Ami's mindscape, nor were they in Naruto's. Ami looked up at him in shock. She wasn't in her mindscape, Naruto couldn't be here. _SHE _couldn't be here.

_'Hoshi-chan? Where are we?'_ Ami called, hoping for a reply in the darkness. Ami looked down at her hand- it was merely mist, just like Naruto was now. There was no reply and Ami shifted uncomfortably. _'Naruto-kun. Aniki. I called you that, didn't I?'_ she murmured, gaining control of the shock her realisation that her realisation had brought_. 'But you're not actually my Aniki, of course.'_ Thought-Naruto nodded and tilted his head to one side.

_'Ano... Ami-chan, am I a Thought, like you?'_

_'Hai- that means we're both mere thoughts. You remember more about the whole 'Aniki' thing, migi? What happened_?' Ami watched Naruto's ears flicker at the mention of 'Aniki' and he tilted his head backwards, staring into the darkness.

_'Migi... Well, I think it was after we'd both come out of the Academy... Ano... Ie, it was in Ichiraku's. Funny how these things come back to you, isn't it? You and I had just spent the day training together and then...' _Naruto paused for a minute, closing his eyes in frustration._ 'Ah, hai. You said I was like an Aniki to you- so you just called me that from then on. You said I was a proper Aniki. I never called you Imouto, though, Aneki.'_ Naruto let out a laugh, his azure eyes sparkling as he opened them again. _'Kami, that must've confused people. Someone can't be an Aneki and Imouto or Aniki and Otouto at the same time!' _Ami laughed as well, before she looked around again. The darkness was unnerving, it seemed as though they were the only things in existance.

_'I don't like this darkness... It's strange... Kami, I wish we were in my mindscape... Or at least some kind of forest- like Misuto Forest.'_ Ami sighed and closed her eyes, though it made no difference to what she could see- only Naruto wasn't there.

_'Ano...'_ a quiet whisper came from Naruto, and Ami tilted her head to one side, eyes still closed. _'I wish I had miso ramen!'_ Naruto called out into the darkness.

_'Aniki, what're you doing?'_ Ami asked curiously.

_'Open your eyes, Aneki! Open your eyes!'_ a laugh came from Naruto and Ami opened her eyes, gasping as she saw the forest around her, exactly as Misuto Forest had been- only there were no other creatures in it. _'Nani? No ramen?'_ Naruto muttered. Ami grinned at him, before her eyes widened in shock as she saw a bowl of ramen sitting behind Naruto.

_'This is crazy... Where the hell are we? Did we have heart attacks and die? Are we dead? Aniki, there's ramen behind you.'_ Ami smiled as she realised how easy it was to slip back into the habit of calling Naruto 'Aniki.' Naruto turned and leapt on the ramen with a shriek of delight. _'Err... I wish Hoshi was here...?' _she called uncertainly. Almost instantly, a thought-Hoshi appeared and Naruto let out yet another shriek, this time in terror.

_'Don't eat me!'_ he wailed. Hoshi glared at him and turned to Ami.

_'What the hell? One minute you're gone and I'm in control, the next I'm in Misuto Forest.'_ she growled irritably.

_'I don't know where we are. What ever you wish for, you get. I thought you'd know. I guess it's something to do with the link. See, Aniki wished for ramen, and he got it.' _Ami pointed at Naruto, who had stuffed his mouth full of ramen. He grinned nervously at Hoshi and gulped, swallowing the ramen quickly.

_'Ohayo gosimasu, Hoshi-sama!' _he smiled brightly, though Hoshi could see pain in his eyes.

_'Naruto. Ami-chan, I don't know where we are, but Kakashi's worried- you're unconscious, see? Matte... If I took over when you came here... NARUTO! BRING KYUUBI HERE NOW!' _Hoshi turned to Naruto, panic in her eyes. Naruto whimpered in fear and looked up at Hoshi, cowering in terror.

_'I wish Kyuubi were here!'_ he gasped. Kyuubi appeared in a puff of smoke, and growled angrily.

_'I was just about to destroy those civilians who hurt you!'_ he snarled.

_'Ie! Ie! Don't hurt anyone! I don't want anyone else to get hurt!'_ Naruto cried, panic in his eyes.

Kyuubi looked at him oddly, before he sighed_. 'Hoshi, why has he gone soft? In his fight with that Uchiha, he said he'd break every bone in his body if he had to- why doesn't he want anyone to get hurt?'_ Ami glared at Kyuubi, about to say something, before Hoshi flicked her tail infront of Ami.

_'Why don't you ask him, Tou-san?'_ she asked, staring into Kyuubi's red eyes with her own silver ones_. 'I don't think he's gone soft- he was well enough to fight Ami in this form.'_

_'Fine. Kit, why've you gone soft? Why don't you want me to take revenge on those who hurt you?'_ he asked, looking down at Naruto. Naruto was shivering in fear, eyes wide in terror, he shook his head, his tail curling itself around him.

_'I-I never liked revenge i-in the first place...'_ he whispered, eyes glazed over and staring blankly at the ground_. 'I... I just don't w-want to see anyone i-in pain... I k-know what it f-feels like...'_

_'To be in pain? You knew that before! Why've you gone soft?'_

_'I don't want to hurt anyone!'_

_'You 'hurt' Toushiro and those other bandits! What's wrong with you?' _Kyuubi snarled.

_'HE'S NOT GONE SOFT, YOU BAKA KITSUNE!' _Ami screamed, pushing Hoshi's tail away. _'He's just been affected by the torture! Wouldn't you have been?'_

_'Ami...'_ Hoshi whispered cautiously, watching as Kyuubi turned to the girl, growling angrily.

_'Baka kitsune? Do you know who you're talking to, girl?'_ he hissed. Ami laughed angrily and glared at him.

_'Kyuubi no Kitsune. The most powerful bijuu. The baka who caused Aniki pain. And still does. I'm not afraid of you! You hurt Aniki!' _Ami growled, her tail thrashing behind her as she glared up at Kyuubi, no fear whatsoever in her mind.

_'I know he's been affected by the torture. If you know WHY someone doesn't want to do something, you can find the cause and stop it.'_ Kyuubi snarled, his shining teeth inches from Ami's face as she snarled back at him.

_'STOP IT!'_ Naruto shrieked, running in between them. _'Why are you still fighting?'_

_'Because he insulted you!' _Ami snarled angrily. _'Don't let him push you around, Aniki!' _Naruto shuddered and looked at Ami with pain in his eyes.

_'I don't care. I've survived this long with people hating and insulting me all the time, I can live with Kyuubi doing it.' _he murmured. _'Shouldn't we get back to Kakashi-sensei now?'_

Ami growled before her head tilted slightly to one side. _'Hey, Aniki, I think I know how you can be my Aniki and I can be your Aneki. When's your birthday?'_

_'The tenth of October, why?' _Naruto asked, confused.

_'Mine's the tenth of October. Aniki, we were born on the same day. That means...' _Ami's eyes widened.

_'We were both born on the day of the Kyuubi attack.'_ Naruto finished in a whisper. Kyuubi looked at Hoshi in confusion and she shrugged with a look that said 'don't question my jinchuuriki's mind, you'll regret it'.

_'So... what does that mean?' _Kyuubi pressed, ignoring Hoshi. Ami sighed at looked up at Kyuubi.

_'After you were sealed, remnants of your chakra still remained in Konoha. Hoshi-chan was sealed in me as soon as I was born. That means, some of YOUR chakra must have been sealed in me too. I was born a while after you were sealed, which is why he is my Aniki.'_ Ami replied, pointing at Naruto.

_'So... you have MY chakra, as well as Hoshi's? Is THAT why you managed to be so powerful when you lost it at Ren's castle?'_ Kyuubi asked, his voice a lot quieter now.

_'Ie. That was Hoshi-chan. Not you.' _Ami replied. _'Actually, Naruto is probably right. If we were unconscious until you took over, what are we like now? We should go back. We can talk through the link.' _Naruto sighed and they all looked at him. He shrugged and scratched his head.

_'Yeah, but HOW are we going to get back?'_ he asked. Ami's eye twitched at the obvious flaw in her plan and she threw herself at Naruto, fists flailing.

_'I DON'T KNOW!'_ she shrieked, hating the fact that her plan had been ruined by that one simple thought. Kyuubi looked at Hoshi with a look that clearly said 'should we interrupt?'

_'Probably.'_ Hoshi muttered. She leaned forwards and dragged Ami off the terrified Naruto.

_'A-Aneki?'_ Naruto squeaked fearfully. Ami's eyes widened and she fell limp from where she had been struggling in Hoshi's grip.

_'Oh, gomen, Aniki! Gomen!' _Ami cried, pulling herself free from Hoshi and embracing Naruto. _'Gomen for attacking you... I guess we should wish to get out. '_ Naruto shivered and shook his head.

_'I'll try first, then.'_ he closed his eyes and murmured, _'I want to go back.' _instantly he and Kyuubi vanished. Ami looked at Hoshi in confusion, before she shrugged and murmured the same thing, instantly finding herself slumped on the Ichiraku counter with Kakashi shaking her shoulder.

"Ami-san? Ami-san?" he called nervously. Ami flinched away from Kakashi's hand and caught his wrist, instictively twisting it. "A-Ami-san!"

"Ano..." Ami laughed nervously and let go of Kakashi's wrist. He pulled it back and rubbed it a little, looking at Ami curiously. "Aniki and I have a mental link. That's why we were 'gone' as such, for a while." Kakashi nodded slowly, his eye narrowed.

"Mayu and Yori knew something like that would happen. I assume you know about the Kyuubi's chakra and the way it was accidentally sealed in you with Hoshi. When you introduced them to Naruto, I think they instantly trusted him and made him part of their family because he and you were linked. In a way, part of you was part of Naruto." Kakashi saw the pain in Ami's eyes as he spoke of her Kaa-san and Tou-san.

"So... a part of us is... is the same enitity? That mean we'd feel each other's pain or something?" a shaky, but curious voice came from outside and Naruto slowly entered Ichiraku's on trembling legs.

"Aniki! Kyuubi didn't hurt anyone, did he?" Ami cried, racing forwards. Naruto raised a shaking hand, staring at the blood dripping slowly from it. He shook his head wearily.

"Ie. Only me. He only hurt me." Kakashi frowned at his answer and his head flicked around as Ami gasped in horror. "I fell on something when I stopped him."

"Aniki! You need to get that treated!" Ami cried, staring at the blood as it dripped from Naruto's hand.

A small laugh escaped from Naruto and he drew back the hand that was clutching his ribs. Blood dripped down from it and Kakashi almost gasped himself as he saw the deep gash across Naruto's chest. "Aneki, I have Kyuubi. He can sort it out. Now, are we going to see that memorial stone?" Kakashi smiled at his student and nodded.

"Ami, Yori left you something- but only you can get it. It's in the memorial stone, but we don't know how it got there. We only know that it's from your Tou-san." Ami's eyes widened in shock and behind her, Teuchi, who had been listening intently to the conversation, put his hand on Ami's shoulder.

"You should go and get it. I know Naruto, he'll be fine." he murmured. Ami nodded silently and stepped out of Ichiraku's, trying to ignore the hatred directed at her as she slowly followed Kakashi and Naruto through Konoha.

Eventually, they came to a small forest-like area with a clearing in the middle of it. Ami stepped forwards and saw the glowing silver stone. She smiled at it as she read all of the names and placed her hand on its surface, unaware of her actions. Almost instantly, the stone rose up, revealing a small box hidden inside of it. Ami carefully pulled it out from underneath the stone and opened the lid carefully. Naruto came up behind her and Ami moved the box so that he could see its contents.

"It's the... the Kitsune symbol... the one Tou-san always wore... to show he was leader..." Ami stammered. She carefully reached into the box and lifted up the ruby-red necklace.

"The Kitsune symbol of power is a necklace?" Kakashi asked.

"Hai, of course. Only the leader of the Kitsune clan can wear it. Go on, try to put it on." Ami carefully handed the necklace to Kakashi. The Kitsune symbol dangled from the chain, glinting in the dappled sunlight. As Kakashi went to put the necklace on, it glowed silver and Kakashi dropped it in shock. Ami swiftly caught the chain and grinned at Naoki and Naruto as they stared at her in shock. She carefully fastened the chain around her neck and lifted up the Kitsune symbol. "I guess this means I really am leader." she murmured. Tear began to flow from Ami's eyes and she fell to her knees in front of the stone, sobbing. "And this means that there's no one left but me..."

"And me. Remember, Aneki, part of me is you. I'm technically a Kitsune." Naruto murmured, kneeling beside her.

"Yeah. We're the same person." Ami replied quietly. "If they hurt you, they hurt me."


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi does, but I _do _own all my OC's.

Hi! Sorry this has taken so long to update (again), but I went on holiday to France, then I just couldn't think of anything to write (again). Sorry if the chapter is shorter than the last few, but I thought I'd better upload it now, before I forgot again!

Please review!

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><p>"Aneki, are you OK?" Naruto asked as he saw more tears fall from Ami's eyes.<p>

"I'm fine, Aniki." Ami murmured back. She took the necklace off and handed it to Naruto, who looked at it warily. "Put it on. If we're the same person, you should be able to wear it too." Naruto looked down at the necklace, sitting innocently in the palm of his hand.

He sighed and shook his head. "Aneki, we might be the same person in one way or another, but I'm not a Kitsune. You are. You were the Heiress, it doesn't matter that I could probably wear the necklace, I'm not the rightful Kitsune leader." Ami stared at Naruto in surprise, before she took the necklace from his outstretched hand and fastened it around her neck again.

"Kakashi-san... why? Why would Tou-san leave me this?" Ami asked quietly. Kakashi smiled at her and Naoki looked up at him, narrowing his eyes in suspision.

_'If you say anything that upsets her again...' _he muttered to himself, unaware of the fact that he had just unsheathed his claws.

Kakashi had noticed Naoki's unsheathed claws and he momentarily glanced at them to show the kitsune that he had noticed. "Probably because he wanted to show you that you were responsible enough to take over from him. That necklace only lets you wear it if you're the rightful leader, right? Say you'd done something like betrayed your Clan and Yori had died. You might still be the heiress, and the leader, but that necklace wouldn't let you wear it, I'm sure of that." Ami sighed and let the necklace dangle from her fingers.

"You're right, Kakashi-san. Such an incident has happened before now. The Kitsune heir called Hiroto killed Isamu, who was the leader back then. The necklace killed him. He put it on, and it killed him. That was before Konoha was founded, when we were just a small Clan. But I'm sure the necklace would do the same to me, if I wasn't the rightful leader." Ami murmured quietly, almost to herself. Kakashi and Naruto glanced at each other worriedly. "No need to be worried, Aniki. Remember that I can hear your thoughts." she looked up, smiling, and Naruto smiled uncertainly back.

Standing up, Naruto shook his tail to get the dust off it and ran his fingers through his tail fur thoughtfully. "What does it mean?" he asked, staring into the dense forest. "You being the leader of a clan?"

Naoki's ears flicked and he padded up to Naruto, brushing his tail gently against Naruto's leg. "It basically means she's in charge of the Kitsune Clan- what remains of it- and the compound. Though, you apparently already have that under control."

"Yeah." Naruto laughed, "For a second I thought you'd have to go and talk about boring old official stuff with the Council!" Ami laughed too, looking up and staring into the pure blue sky above them.

"Ah, so did I. Hopefully not, eh, Aniki?" she leapt up and grinned at Kakashi. "So... can we train somewhere? I want to teach Aniki more about being a half-demon." Naruto flinched and Ami felt a wave of panic flicker through his mind. "You have a lot of advantages in a fight now. Aniki, I know you don't like fighting and hurting people, but if you won't attack, why not learn to evade? To defend? You might get attacked, but if you could defend yourself, you wouldn't need to hurt anyone, and if you did, it would be because they attacked _you, _not the other way around." Naruto sighed and Ami grinned as she felt him decide not to argue.

_'Arigato, Aniki. This will be so much easier now.' _Ami thought, directing it towards Naruto. She was rewarded with a warning growl and Naruto grinned back at her, though he made a point of showing his fangs.

"Sure, you can use training ground 7, Naruto should know the way. Uh... Naruto, Ami, what are you doing?" Kakashi sweatdropped as he peered over the top of Icha Icha and saw Naruto and Ami glaring at each other, each grinning evilly. As soon as he asked the question, both jumped and turned, smiling sweetly with large, innocent, blue eyes.

"What do you mean, Kakashi-san?" Ami asked sweetly. From the quick glances they gave each other, mostly glares, Kakashi could tell that they were continuing their argument, or whatever it was, in their minds.

Kakashi was silent for a moment, before he sighed and looked back at his book. "Naruto, you remember where training ground 7 is, don't you? Just don't murder each other on the way there. Tsunade has enough paperwork as it is, and I'd hate to think of all the trees that would be torn down making that amount of paperwork." Naruto tilted his head to one side and Ami tried to stop herself laughing a second later, but she failed miserably. "Care to share that thought with the rest of us, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"What thought?" Naruto asked, looking genuinely puzzled. Kakashi raised his eyebrow and, as Naruto stifled a laugh, he realised that the genin was a very good actor.

"OK, I'll come to the training grounds later, like I said, don't kill each other- or anyone else, for that matter- while you're going there." Kakashi's eye twitched as Naruto and Ami exchanged another amused glance.

"By later, do you mean in an hour or so?" Naruto asked, glancing at Ami.

'_He'll be there in three hours.'_ he murmured to her. Ami giggled, but quickly stopped herself.

"Hai, an hour. Oh, Naruto, how's that gash on your chest?" Kakashi asked, looking at the rip in Naruto's t-shirt.

Naruto looked down and grinned, "It healed almost instantly. It doesn't matter. Sorry about ruining the t-shirt, Aneki." Ami smiled and Naruto's eyes flickered in panic for a second.

"Don't worry Aniki, I wouldn't really do that." Ami smiled and leapt out of the clearing. Naruto shivered and Kakashi looked at him curiously.

"Do what?" he asked.

"You don't want to know..." Naruto whispered. "Mental scars, Sensei, mental scars." Kakashi watched Naruto follow Ami before he shrugged and lay back against a tree to read. "_Mental scars_" a voice hissed behind him and Kakashi jumped up in shock, turning quickly. There was a small burst of laughter, before it faded and Kakashi lay back down again, looking around nervously. It was hard to imagine that Naruto had once been the young genin bubbling with excitment and energy as they set off on their first mission. Now he was experienced- and he knew pain. More pain than he had known before, which was hard to believe, considering what he had experienced. Kakashi wished that Naruto could have kept a bit of that happy-go-lucky attitude, but while he may have kept it, against all the odds, for a this long, his last experience may have completely changed that part of him. Naruto was still the bright, happy genin Kakashi had known, but something had changed in him and Naruto appeared to be more cautious now, as if he were always on guard. He had the aura of a shinobi about him, and it would never leave him. Kakashi felt almost sad that the genin he had known was gone, never to return.

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><p>"Aneki! Wait up!" Naruto yelled. He had stayed behind a moment longer to hiss 'mental scars' in Kakashi's ear and it had been worth it. Naruto had never seen Kakashi jump before. It was quite funny, actually, seeing such and experienced jonin jump. But now, Ami was quite a way in front of him, and she was running as fast as she could. Naruto couldn't blame her. She probably wanted to get away from the final proof of her clan's death and her own responsiblity as its new leader. But Naruto <em>wanted <em>to help, and if she wouldn't let him, it would be a lot harder.

'_ANEKI!'_ he hissed, directing the thought towards her. There was no reply and Naruto growled irritably, deciding to force them both into that weird area they had been in before.

'_Don't. Even. Think. About. It._' Ami hissed just as Naruto had been about to attempt to get them both there. '_Do you think ANYTHING through? If we went there now, while we're in the middle of jumping through the trees, we could die. We'd fall and we could break our necks. It takes TIME for Hoshi and Kyuubi to take over. At this speed, they wouldn't have any time to stop us!' _

'_Well, wait up! What's wrong with you? You're not normally so grumpy.'_ Naruto snarled irritably, regretting it as he felt pure anger flicker through Ami's mind, before she quickly stopped it and calmed herself down. '_Wow. You have very good control over your emotions.'_ Naruto muttered.

'_I need it. And it doesn't matter about what's wrong with me, we should just go and train.'_

Naruto sighed as he felt Ami block her thoughts off and they continued through the trees. He knew that Ami was probably just upset over what she had learnt, and he knew he would be upset too.

'_Kyuu?' _Naruto asked, wanting to talk to _someone_.

'_Go away_.' came the irritable reply. Naruto sighed and his ears drooped dejectedly.

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><p>Training Ground 7 soon came into view, with its the familiar posts, small forested areas and river. Ami leapt down in front of the posts and smiled awkwardly at Naruto. It was hard having someone who could see your deepest thoughts, especially if those were the sort you wanted to keep to yourself forever.<p>

"Gomen about before. I was just... I can't believe that _I'm _the Leader now. That I have to think about the safety of the Clan... I know that there is no Clan, but still... I'm responsible for the compound, whoever might be left- which, to be honest, is probably just us- and all that. I'm a _genin_, not an experienced jonin! Not an ANBU or anything like that! I'm just a genin, and yet I'm leader." Ami shivered as she thought of all the responsiblity she now had.

Naruto smiled at his tail flicked happily. "You might not think that you're ready." he replied, grinning. "But the necklace has already proven that you're are."

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><p>If you don't understand any of the story, feel free to PM me!<p>

I never really thought I'd get to chapter 20, but this fanfiction may drag on a little, as I have trouble with finding endings for stories!


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi does.

(Again) I'm sorry this has taken a while to update, but I keep getting writer's block, and I'm now writing an original story too, so I'm spending more time on that at the moment.

Thanks to everyone who favourited and reviewed this!

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><p>Ami nodded gratefully to Naruto, before she drew her katana. "Weapons or jutsu?" she asked him, tapping Yoru's scabbard gently.<p>

"We aren't fighting. You said so yourself." Naruto replied quietly, pushing Ami's katana away with one finger.

Ami laughed lightly, grinning at Naruto's confused face. "I meant: do you want to _evade _weapons, or jutsu?" Naruto grinned back at her, relief in his sparkling eyes.

"I have no idea what jutsu you use. So... Weapons." Naruto watched as Ami flicked her katana so that the light made the deadly edge glimmer as though it were excited. Then she twisted it and slid the blade back into its scabbard. "What are you _doing_?" Naruto asked, confused.

Ami unsealed several wooden kunai and a perfect, wooden replica of her katana. "How long?" she asked, looking straight into Naruto's puzzled eyes. "How long have shinobi been mortally wounded or found themselves losing limbs in training accidents? If the fools used _fake _weapons, no-one would lose limbs or kill themselves, would they? It's kinda obvious." Naruto nodded and thought back to the (many) times he himself had been in the Konoha Hospital and had encountered badly injured shinobi- some holding limbs so that they could be reattached who had told him that they had been involved in a training session gone wrong.

"But what about jutsu? It's quite hard to practise evading jutsu's without _actually using them._" Naruto pointed out quietly. Ami smirked.

"I know. You can train safely with jutsu's. But..." she disappeared and Naruto tensed as he felt Ami's warm breath on the back of his neck. "_You've got to be good enough to avoid them._" Naruto leapt up, flipping over Ami and landing silently on his feet like a cat as Ami's wooden katana passed through the space his neck had been a second earlier. Ami clapped and Naruto grinned, bowing elaborately and turning it swiftly into a roll as Ami leapt at him.

"I didn't see that first move coming." Naruto admitted as he leapt up behind Ami. The girl grinned and ran her finger along the light silver birch wood of her replica-katana.

"Yeah, I know. Kasumi only just missed you." she replied.

"Kasumi?" asked Naruto, confused. Ami held out the katana and Naruto tried to ignore the fact that it was pointed at his heart.

"The katana. It means mist. Good name for a katana that, when wielded by the right person, can seemingly turn into silver air."  
>Naruto nodded flipping backwards as Ami lunged forwards. "Are you the right person?" Ami shrugged.<p>

"Depends whether you see it coming or not." she replied, upping her speed and slashing at Naruto in a flowing style that made it look as though she were dancing. Naruto found that he was instinctively using his tail to turn quicker, using the momentum of it to spin at a speed that would have been otherwise impossible to move at. Instead of letting it follow him, he used it to turn him, his own defensive movements beginning to match Ami's dance-like technique, and her inhuman speed.

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><p>When Kakashi reached Training Ground 7 - in several hours time - he stopped to stare in awe at the fight going on below him. Naruto and Ami had not stopped once, and they still seemed to be dancing that same deadly dance. Naruto was spinning and twisting, moving in a way Kakashi had never seen before, and Ami was matching his movements, rolling and lunging, their tails appeared to be steering them and each movement flowed into the next. Naoki padded up silently behind Kakashi with Aki following him, her white hair keeping her eyes in shadow.<p>

"Kakashi-san." she murmured gently as she walked slowly up behind him. Kakashi turned and saw her standing behind him, eyes hidden, though a single tear rolled down from under her fringe.

"What's wrong, Aki-san?" Kakashi asked, peering at the girl's hidden eyes.

"My family. They're coming in a few days, Tsunade-sama said so." Aki sighed gently, "I don't know what I'm going to say. Aoi sacrificed himself for me. My _brother _died for me! I couldn't do anything! And I've killed so many people... entire villages, gone in an instant... families wiped out... massacre's, Kakashi-san. I've been part of massacres. My family is a simple mercenary group - how can I tell them that? That I've murdered entire families, and I'm only fourteen! My Kaa-san probably hasn't killed anyone yet! She hadn't when I... I was taken..." Aki let out a quiet wail of despair.

Kakashi put his hand on Aki's shoulder and smiled at her, "Aki-san, I know your family will understand. You weren't technically conscious when you did that, were you? You were a puppet. _Ren's _puppet. Believe me, Aki-san, your family won't blame you. They'll just be a few more in the list of people who want revenge on Ren." Aki nodded and looked down at Ami and Naruto's fight.

"That's pretty impressive." she murmured. Kakashi nodded and Aki looked up at him. "But Naruto-san isn't attacking."

Kakashi sighed, his head dropping slightly. "He can't." Aki tilted her head, crimson eyes filled with confusion. "Naruto doesn't like hurting people - not now anyway. Something happened to him, I don't know what, but he won't hurt anyone. I suppose it's because he knows pain, and he doesn't want anyone else to suffer as he did. Naruto's always been one to befriend people, he has an unusual way of doing that, and one thing he hates is revenge. He's trying to bring peace, and he knows enough to understand that revenge merely brings more pain."

Aki nodded slowly. "I understand. He's knows a lot more than he lets on."

Kakashi nodded back, then smiled. "The question is: _how _much more does he know?"

Aki tilted her head back, staring up at the sun in the cloudless sky. "I would say he knows a great deal more than we think. The torture he endured while he was Ren's prisoner... Kakashi-san, it would break even you. But it didn't break him. Sometimes I heard him muttering things to himself. Things like 'Never give up' and stuff about his nindo. Naruto-san knew how to keep his mind safe from the torments we forced it to endure. No one, Kakashi-san, no one, has ever endured those tortures." Kakashi glanced at her, and Aki saw the somewhat resentful look in his eyes. She sighed and sat down, leaning back on her hands and staring up at the clouds.

"I don't _want _to blame you. I shouldn't blame you. But I can't help but feel... I don't know. You weren't acting of your own accord, but still..." he muttered, feeling a deep sense of confusion.

Aki didn't take her eyes off the clouds. "You feel I was partly responsible. You're right. I was." Kakashi stared at her this time, shocked. He opened his mouth, but Aki stopped him, this time looking at the deadly, dance-like fight beneath them. "Ren was planning the capture of Naruto-san for weeks. He knew he couldn't fight his way to him, Naruto-san was just too strong with Konoha behind him, and he ordered Aoi and I to spy on Naruto-san and gain information on what he was like. I think Naruto-san sensed us somewhat, but since we meant him no harm, he let us be. I don't know, Kakashi-san, we reported back to Ren, and we told him everything he needed to know. In that way, we were responsible for his capture. I won't make the excuse that we were under Ren's control, we were, or else we'd have run at the first chance we got, but..." Aki shook her head and sighed.

Kakashi looked thoughtful. "You say it was a few weeks before he was taken? How long did you spy on him for? A week?" Aki nodded slowly. "Naruto told me he felt like someone was watching him around then. I think he knew more, but I didn't question him. He said it was like someone was always there, like a hidden shadow. I was worried at first, but he said that this 'shadow' meant him no harm, as far as he could tell. He seemed so certain... Heh, I guess even the best get things wrong." Aki shifted uncomfortably.

"He was right." she murmured, half to herself. "_We _didn't mean him any harm. Ren did. When we found out what Naruto-san was like... It just seemed so... _wrong, _I guess, to literally hand him over to Ren. Ren was going to break him, then, I assume, take Kyuubi from him. That would have most likely killed Naruto-san, and both Aoi and I knew that Ren's jutsu wasn't complete, and there was a high chance that it would only _partially _work. That's, thankfully, what actually happened, in the end. We knew that Naruto-san had spent his entire life trying to gain the trust and respect of Konoha, we knew that having Kyuubi had seriously hampered his attempts. What would you do, Kakashi-san? Hand the kindest, most trustworthy shinobi you'd ever met over to a man who was going to break him, and then attempt to either kill him or turn him into a demon? Or would you try to save him?" Kakashi knew the answer- it was the easiest question in the world to answer. "We _tried_. But we couldn't save him, Kakashi-san. We tried to lie, but it didn't work, we tried to hide everything, but it didn't work. You can't lie to Ren, you can't hide things from Ren." Aki shook her head sadly.

Kakashi sighed and sat beside her, never taking his eyes from the fight below. "You didn't want to... But you did. You had to." he murmured, half to himself. "When he was captured... How did you capture Sakura first? _Why_ did you capture her first?" Kakashi already knew the answer, but he just wanted it confirmed.

Aki glanced at him, then back at the fight as Naruto caught hold of Ami's shoulders and flipped over her, avoiding a particularly vicious slash from Kasumi. "You know why. Naruto-san treasures his friends above all else. Sakura-san is special to him, and if we wanted to take Naruto-san without a fight, all we had to do was capture one of his friends and threaten them. Sakura was waiting for you two in the Training Grounds, and she was concerntrating on some medical jutsu. All it took was a single blow. Sakura-san is strong, but even the strongest fighter can be caught unawares by the stealthiest shinobi. We could have taken Naruto-san without trickery, but it would have involved a fight and, like I said before, you cannot fight Naruto-san- or indeed any _other _shinobi- with a Hidden Village behind them." Kakashi nodded and looked back down at the fight.

"They're going to knock themselves out in a minute." he observed, seeing the exhausted look in both the shinobi's eyes. Unbeknownst to them, both Naruto and Ami had a demon kitsune egging them on, refusing to let them stop until the other yielded. Of course, since both had a kitsune egging them on, neither was going to stop, which meant that neither would yield, and the fight would continue until they collapsed. It had the same effect as following someone who was following you, you would just go around in circles, and never get anywhere.

Aki laughed lightly, "Neither of them give up, do they?" Kakashi shook his head. "I reckon this'll last for quite a while, then."

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><p>It was well past nightfall, probably after midnight, when Naruto leapt over Ami as she lunged at him, and he fell to the ground, unable to support himself. He could barely breathe, his limbs were burning from the hits he had taken and he could not focus on anything, it was too hard, too tiring. He let out a gentle sigh and allowed himself to fall unconscious. Ami did almost the same. As she lunged at Naruto, and missed, the momentum kept her going and her legs buckled leaving her panting on the floor. She could see Naruto, but there was a thumping in her ears, and her vision was slowly turning black. Just past Naruto, Ami saw Kakashi and Aki hurry down the hill towards them, before she too, fell unconscious.<p>

"Naruto? Ami?" Kakashi called as he raced down towards them. He and Aki had seen Naruto and Ami fall at almost the same time as they half-slept on the mound. Kakashi, Naoki and Aki had watched all this time, except for when they had drifted off to sleep for an hour or so. Kakashi didn't know whether Ami and Naruto were pushing themselves too hard, they were hanyous, so he had no idea how long they could keep this up for. But it seemed this been exhausting, if not downright harmful, for them both. He ran to Naruto first, knowing that Ami was probably stronger than him, and shook Naruto's shoulder as he lay limp on the ground. Naruto stirred, but merely moaned and shifted a little. Aki came up behind Kakashi and looked at Naruto.

"He's just exhausted, Kakashi-san." she murmured. "They both are. We should take them back to the Kitsune Compound." Kakashi nodded and picked Naruto up, watching as Aki lifted Ami with surprising strength. Naoki came up and nudged her leg, nodding towards a group of Akamaru-sized kitsunes who were watching her with disapproving eyes.

"We will carry Ami." Naoki murmured. Aki nodded respectfully and lowered Ami back to the ground, knowing how loyal and protective kitsunes were of their summoner. In Ami's case, it was probably _over _protective, but who could blame them? Ami was the last of their summoning Clan, they didn't want to lose her. The kitsunes picked Ami up and began to follow Kakashi and Aki back to the compound.

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><p>If you don't understand something, feel free to PM me!<p>

Please review!


	22. Chapter 22

Hi! I'm not going to be updating regularly anymore, and the updates will take _time _to come out, even if they're quite short. I'm currently being flooded with homework, writing other fanfictions, and things are quite complicated at the moment. So, sorry in advance for the long waits!

I'm having trouble finding a good storyline for this again, but I'm sure I'll think of something soon. I'm probably going to end the story soon and write a sequel, because I've got ideas for what could happen after maybe a year or so, when Naruto and Ami get strong enough to actually confront Ren. At the moment, I feel all I'm writing is filler, and it's probably really boring to read, so, sorry!

Disclaimer: I (Still) don't own Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi does.

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><p>Naruto let out a groan as he woke, it felt as if he had been hit by just about every jutsu in the world, then thrown off a cliff onto sharp rocks. He tried to sit up, but found he could barely lift a hand to help himself. Suddenly, he realised what had happened and he let out a hiss of irritation.<p>

_'Kyuu, why aren't my wounds healed?'_ he grumbled as he lay staring at the ceiling.

Kyuubi let out an exasperated hiss, '_You go and get pummelled by a hanyou, you aren't going to have your wounds healed until you REST!'_

Naruto let out a moan, _'I don't WANT to rest! And I did NOT get pummelled by Aneki!' _Just then, Ami bounced into the room, looking perfectly fine. Kyuubi let out a snort of laughter and Naruto growled at him in return.

"Why're you two growling at each other?" she asked innocently. Naruto inwardly cursed and Ami laughed.

"How're you _fine_ after yesterday? I swear we were fighting for HOURS!" he complained. "I can't even move!"

Ami laughed again, and tapped the side of her head, "Trade secrets, Aniki, trade secrets." Naruto made a feeble swipe at her ankles, but Ami just stepped out of reach from where he lay on the futon and watched his efforts in amusment.

"Come back so I can tear your legs off!" he whined. "It's not _fair!"_ He let his arm fall at his side as he whined. Ami poked it with her toe and he glared at her mutinously.

"Aw, come _on_, Aniki! Surely you aren't this weak!" she grinned as Naruto let out an angry growl and made another swipe at her leg. This time, the end of one of his sharp claw-like nails caught her and a thin trickle of blood rolled from the cut. "Ooh!" she whispered as a look of savage triumph lit Naruto's face.

_'Hey, Kyuubi, d'you think he's got over his 'don't want to hurt anyone' thing?'_ Ami asked.

A laugh came from the kitsune, _'Ie. He's just not bothered about you. He knows he can't hurt you. Besides, you taunted him. It's not properly hurting someone, is it?'_

_'Why are you two TALKING, and not arguing for once? And why did Kyuubi ACTUALLY laugh? And since when did Kyuubi have a sense of humor?'_ Naruto asked, the questions coming out too fast for even Kyuubi to understand. _'Yaho? Anyone going to answer me?'_ Naruto sighed and slipped into his mindscape where he saw the Thought-Ami and Kyuubi looking at each other in amusment.

Ami glanced over and spotted Naruto. _'Ah... Gomen, Aniki. We... didn't understand ANYTHING you just said. Not even that giant furball understood.' _

Kyuubi let out a low growl and both Naruto and Ami took a step backwards in fear. _'When I get out of here, girl, Hanyou or not, I will not hesitate in destroying you, understand? To me you are an irritating fly that I wish to catch and squish under my claws.'_ Naruto and Ami looked at each other, Naruto giving Ami an irritated look.

Then Ami laughed. Both Naruto and Kyuubi stared at her in shock, Naruto wondering if she'd lost it and Kyuubi wondering if he should attempt to squish her now, no matter _how _impossible doing so would be. _'But Kyuubi, I have Hoshi inside of me, and you can't kill her, can you? Not your own daughter.' _Kyuubi hissed in anger at this and Naruto glared at Ami with a look that clearly said Stop-making-the-giant-kitsune-in-my-head-angry. '_There's also the fact that you CAN'T get out, unless Aniki releases you. And Aniki won't, because he'll have much more control over your power now he's a Hanyou. And... and when Aniki d-dies' _Ami swallowed, eyes watering at the thought of her Aniki dying. _'You die with him.'_ An angry snarl came from Kyuubi and Naruto stared at Ami in shock, before he grinned, though a little more uncertainly as usual.

_'Arigato Aneki, now not only do I have a giant kitsune in my head, said kitsune is ANGRY and will probably give me a headache._' Ami laughed at this and Kyuubi began to mutter something under his breath. _'But, Aneki, why can you move while I can't?'_

_'I suppose I could tell YOU, Aniki...'_ Ami murmured thoughtfully.

_'Well, we ARE essentially the same person... or something like that... So... can you tell me?'_ Naruto looked at Ami with pleading eyes, suddenly wondering if there was a Puppy-Eye-Jutsu somewhere that actually WORKED.

_'I suppose... OK, Aniki I am about to tell you my BIGGEST and MOST IMPORTANT secret. You must not tell ANYONE, OK?' _Naruto nodded and Ami grinned, enjoying the suspension. _'The reason why I can move is... chakra.'_ Naruto nodded wisely, then stopped, his eye beginning to twitch in irritation.

_'CHAKRA? Your biggest secret, the reason you can move and I can't, is CHAKRA?'_ he screeched.

Ami nodded, her eyes sparkling in amusment. _'It's how you use the chakra. Can you work THAT out, Aniki? It's VERY simple, for a hanyou. See, if I don't use my chakra for this, I'd be like you. Useless. Vunerable. When you went to scratch me, how did you move? I am one with my chakra, yet it is separate from my mind. I am controlling it, but it is not a jutsu. Can you work it out NOW? My entire family could.' _Naruto looked thoughtful for a while. How HAD he managed to scratch Ami when he wasn't able to move an inch? After about fifteen minutes, the answer hit him. When he had scratched Ami, he had powered his arm with _chakra_. Ami was moving because she was using her chakra to power herself, while simultaneously healing herself so that eventually, she could take the chakra away and still support herself.

_'You're using the chakra to support yourself and heal yourself at the same time. Your chakra is powering your limbs, but it is doing it by itself, you only have to make it go there. Once it is there, it stays there. It's not a jutsu, it is just moving your chakra.'_ he replied slowly. Ami grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.

_'Got it in one. Now, d'you want to go and have some ramen? Or rig some traps in the kitchen? Kakashi-san fell asleep in a chair, and Naoki has already emptied the washing-up water into his shoes. I have some paint, smoke bombs, fake mice, all that stuff you get from the joke shop.'_ Naruto's eyes lit up. It had been a while since he'd pranked _anyone _and he had been the best when he was younger, even evading the ANBU. It had only been Iruka who was able to catch him.

_'Do you have any neon paint? I feel the need to paint Kakashi's masks and books... Actually, let's paint AND hide the masks...'_ Naruto slowly staggered up, still feeling pain.

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><p>Kakashi woke up to find his hair standing straight up, defying gravity more than ever. He yawned, and went to flatten his hair, but it just fell back into place. '<em>Fell?'<em> Kakashi's eyes flew open and he found himself staring down at the floor, but it didn't _look _like the floor...

"Kai!" he tried to release the genjutsu, but it didn't work. He was still apparently sitting in a chair, on the ceiling. It appeared that the entire room had been turned upside down. It wasn't a genjutsu. Kakashi slowly stood up, reaching out a hand. He could touch the floor, but it didn't do any good. Suddenly he narrowed his eyes and activated his Sharingan. There was _chakra _running through everything, including himself, keeping everything attached to the ceiling. "NARUTO! AMI!" he yelled angrily, still looking at the chakra. Suddenly, the chakra flow was cut off and he hit the floor with a thud. The furniture righted itself and _slowly _lowered itself to the floor, a different chakra now activating seals placed on it. "Ow... Damned kitsune gaki's... I swear when I catch them... Shame they can communicate telepathically... That'll make catching the both of them a lot harder." he heard a snigger from behind the shoji door and saw two shadows behind it. He crept forwards and threw open the door, pouncing on the two shadows. He realised his mistake as the two dummies exploded in a shower of neon paint. He instantly put a hand up to make sure his mask was OK. It wasn't there. He let out a shriek of anger and raced out of the room, tripping and sliding headfirst down the hall into a large group of seals. They all went off at once, showering him in everything from glitter to yet more paint. He coughed and made his way _slowly _out of the house, looking like the painting of a toddler who had been let loose with the glitter pots.

Kakashi looked up to see his beloved Icha Icha books all glued to the roof of the house, painted neon pink and covered in little glitter-hearts. He let out a yell and leapt up, trying to pull the books off. He quickly applied chakra to his efforts and pulled the books off one by one muttering angrily. Now for his masks. Kakashi sighed and quickly summoned Pakkun.

"Yo." the little dog greeted him happily. "Woah... what happened Kakashi?"

Kakashi grimaced, "Naruto found a partner who is just as good at pranking people as he is." Pakkun grinned.

"And you want me to find them?"

Kakashi sighed, "What do you think?"

Pakkun grinned sheepishly, "Actually, Kakashi, they're kitsune's now, aren't they? That means they're going to be able to mask their scents easily, since they're aware of them. But if you want to know where they are, they're in that tree over there. I can see 'em." Kakashi spun around and saw Naruto waving at him mischeviously.

"Are you sure that isn't a shadow clone?" he asked,

"That's not a shadow clone. I can't normally tell, but Ami just hit him, and he's still there. Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna leave. I can't help, and I don't really want to watch you attempt to smash those two into a pulp, 'cause you can't, believe me, Kakashi, you can't." Pakkun vanished just as a loud thud came from the tree and Naruto fell flat on his face after being pushed out.

"Sorry, Aniki!" Ami's laugh came from the tree and she hopped out, helping Naruto up as he staggered around, dazed.

"What happened?" he asked, voice slurred a little, "Who are you? Who am I?"

Ami flinched, "Err... Aniki? Are you alright? I didn't push you that hard, did I?"

Naruto looked at her, confused, before he grinned, "Got yo- I think Kakashi's seen us. RUN!" Naruto paused half way through gloating as he saw Kakashi stalking towards them, eyes narrowed murderously. Ami turned and giggled as she saw the state Kakashi was in, before Naruto grabbed her and the two ran as fast as they could away from the glittery blob that was Kakashi. For the moment, all of their problems were gone.


End file.
